East London (South Africa): Dale Steyn is determined to be part of South Africa’s squad for the T20 World Cup in Australia in October and November after switching his focus from Test cricket to the shortest form of the game.
South Africa’s all-time leading Test wicket-taker will be 37 by the time the global showpiece starts and has not played international cricket since last March. But he said Tuesday he is looking forward to his comeback in the first Twenty20 international against England at Buffalo Park which will be played Wednesday.
“I love playing cricket,” Steyn said. I wake up every day and I can’t see myself doing anything else right now.”
Steyn said he had discussed some options for life after cricket but that was something for the future. “As long as that drive is still there to play at the highest level, to get batters out, fox them and outsmart them and that kind of stuff, if I can do that I’m going to continue to do that,” asserted the fast bowler.
Steyn was selected for the 2019 Cricket World Cup in England and Wales but didn’t play a game before returning home with a shoulder injury. He announced his retirement from Test matches in August and said he would devote the rest of his career to limited overs cricket.
Steyn however didn’t play in the three-match ODI series against England which ended Sunday and he indicated Tuesday that his focus had narrowed to the 20-overs format.
Steyn said that he planned to play in T20 leagues in Pakistan and India in the coming months. “After that it will be the Proteas and I will give it everything I’ve got until the World Cup.”
Steyn said his decision to quit Tests, after taking a South African record 439 wickets in 93 matches, was because of the workload.
“If you’re playing Test cricket you could bowl 20 overs in a day. I could play about five T20s in that space,” pointed out Steyn.
The requirements for T20 cricket were different, ‘but guys need to know that it’s still there and that you can bowl a 90 miles an hour bouncer or yorker’.
Steyn said he hoped to perform well himself but also to impart some of his knowledge to the young bowlers in South Africa’s line-up.
“I want to guide them,” he said. “I want to stand at mid-off and say, ‘what are you thinking, what ball are you thinking of bowling?’
AFP