RISING STAR Dewald Brevis may just be in line for another Proteas call-up soon. Picture: Ron Gaunt/Sportzpics
Image: Ron Gaunt/Sportzpics
Dewald Brevis has long been heralded as a future star for the Proteas, but has yet to cement his place in the team. That may change soon though.
The 21-year-old already made his Proteas debut two years ago, but in the two appearances he made against Australia he made scores of five and a duck.
The Proteas could have chosen to persist with him, but instead let him gain experience at franchise level.
That he has now, achieved in heaps.
In the first season of the SA20, the MI Cape Town (MICT) batsman battled to find his feet as he averaged just 26, and then struggled even more in season two with an average of 18. His strike-rate in the first season was 117, and 140 in the second.
Even in those first two editions of the T20 tournament, he still managed to produce some top knocks with high scores of 70 and 66 in each season. But it was the consistency which was missing.
Flash forward to season three, and he ended as the sixth highest run-scorer in the competition. His 291 runs also came at the second highest average (48.5) of the top-10 run-scorers, and the best strike-rate among the same list with his 184.18.
Brevis of course was not selected for the Proteas Champions Trophy, and that wasn’t exactly a surprise. The youngster has only played 17 List A matches, but is already averaging an impressive 41.
So far though, it’s clearly the ‘moer-en-soek’ T20 format in which he has shone so far. Across all the T20 competitions he’s played which include the SA20, Major League Cricket, IPL and CPL he sports a batting average of 26 and a strike-rate of 144.
The stats of Brevis in the SA20, however, likely show the best glimpse of his burgeoning ability. Soon, the Proteas selectors will have no choice but to give him a solid run in T20 Internationals, and there’s every chance he can deliver on his considerable potential.
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