Scholesy, the Man Behind the Gloves

ARUNDEL: It says everything about his character that one of Kyle Verreynne’s most memorable days of his cricketing career came in a contest where he hadn’t made the biggest contribution.

A step away from the ICC World Test Championship (WTC) final, the Proteas Men went to lunch on a thrilling final day at SuperSport Park in Centurion needing 32 to win, with just two wickets in hand.

As Marco Jansen and Kagiso Rabada inched and punched their way ever closer to the tricky target, many South Africans sat on the edge of their seats. But not Verreynne.

“I just remember being in that dressing-room and feeling just how calm everyone was. Yes, there was tension. Yes, there was pressure. But there was just this great feeling that ‘we can do this’, and I could see it around the room,” the keeper-batsman recalls.

The explosion of emotion that followed the winning runs was also special, but Verreynne notes that the environment in which he and his mates currently operate is the best he’s ever been involved in at national level.

“What Shuks (coach, Shukri Conrad) and Temba (captain, Temba Bavuma) have created is improbable. They encourage each of us to be ourselves, and I think it has brought out the very best of us.”

It is no coincidence that the consistency of the man behind the stumps has come at the same time that the team’s fortunes gathered momentum in the right direction. Over the years, the best South African sides in Test cricket have had a trusted gloveman at the very heart of the team.

More than just making the team feel at ease, Conrad specifically called his keeper aside during the tour of the West Indies.

“He basically told me that he and the coaches backed me. That backing just gave me so much confidence, and allowed me the focus on my job,” he admits.

“Shuks often says he doesn’t care how it looks, as long as it gets the job done. And, if you look at this team, there are a lot of guys whose main goal is to just get the job done,” Verreynne points out.

With the gloves or the bat, he is certainly one of those, too. Verreynne has made a happy habit of scoring runs at exactly the tempo that the team requires.

“My job at six or seven is not always about scoring big runs. Sometimes it’s a quick 40 to set a target, or a fighting 30, batting with the bowlers. It is always very nice to contribute to the team and make an impact on the game.”

This adaptability is a hallmark of the selfless approach that he has bought to the side. Sometimes misunderstood, the 28-year-old notes his own list of attributes that he tries to bring to the Proteas table.

“To me, character is about a few things. Never giving up. Getting it done. Showing fight.”

These are all hallmarks that are critical in the ultimate format.

Over the last two years or so, the Proteas have relied on each other to get the job done, across the world and against the odds.

By the time the Proteas arrived in Bangladesh, destiny was in their hands. Having seen the bowlers blow away the hosts for 106, Verreynne’s critical century in Mirpur (114) set up a clinical, seven-wicket triumph.

His range of stroke play and confidence against the turning ball have added steel and unorthodox skill to the middle-order, and he relishes the challenge each encounter brings.

While Verreynne lists SuperSport Park as one of his great days of his career, he also enjoyed a few more in the last South African summer. His terrific, undefeated 105 in Gqeberha set the Proteas on their way to a tough win over plucky Sri Lanka, in a Test they had to win.

Even more special, though, was a century at his beloved World Sports Betting Newlands against Pakistan. For a boy who went to Wynberg Boys’ High School, little can beat scoring runs in front of friends and family, for your country.

“I’ve grown up in Cape Town, and Newlands is obviously so special to me. As a team, that was probably our most complete performance and it is something that I will remember for quite some time,” he admitted.

Some wondered if the Proteas would not have been better off if the WTC final had happened soon after that performance, but Verreynne takes a different view.

“International cricket, and Test cricket especially, is very emotional. So, we were obviously on a massive high at that point, but I think the break is actually a blessing in disguise,” he points out.

“This time has allowed us to take it all in, regroup and focus again on one match.”

Verreynne added that the ingredients for the June 11 encounter are all the things young cricketers dream of.

“It’s Lord’s. It’s an ICC final, against Australia, who have been the benchmark in Test cricket for so long. It is everything you dream of as a cricketer.”

In every sporting team, a player feels most welcome when they have been handed a nickname that speaks to their character. For his sins, Kyle Verreynne has been dubbed ‘Scholesy’ by his teammates.

The reference to the ginger hair is obvious, but what set Manchester United legend Paul Scholes apart from many other midfielders was his ability to step up when it mattered most for his team.

At Lord’s, on the ultimate stage, the Proteas will be looking to their ‘Scholesy’ to rise to the considerable occasion.

Source: cricket.co.za

Vintcent van der Bijl (born 1948) – 13 internationals, 24.83 average, 50 high score, 61 wickets, 20.20 average, 5-25 best, four five-wicket innings: At the time of his retirement in the early ’80s, he was the most prolific bowler in South African domestic cricket. He topped the annual Currie Cup wicket tally for about a decade. Broken down to a five-Test series, he would have grabbed 23-24 wickets per series. He had outstanding consistency. He had the same imposing physique and bowling style as the Windies’ Joel Garner. His high batting average is courtesy of ten not outs in 16 innings.