COMMENT
In South African cricket, we could have a world-class player scoring runs and taking a bunch of wickets every season in domestic cricket, all for them to never don the green and gold.
Some go on to play for South Africa but find themselves back in domestic cricket, as it is incredibly difficult to be a regular in the Proteas setup. This is not a matter of mismanagement, but a matter of the abundance of talent.
Had the likes of Colin Ingram hailed from countries such as New Zealand or even England, they probably would have had longer international careers. However, at the time, there were the likes of AB de Villiers, JP Duminy and Jacques Kallis making up the top- to middle-order in white-ball cricket.
Proteas wicketkeeper-batter Ryan Rickelton has experienced a similar situation early on in his career. Being left-handed, a wicketkeeper, he naturally competed against Quinton de Kock for a spot in the Proteas squad.
De Kock, being a generational talent and a freak of nature, was always going to get the nod ahead of Rickelton.
When De Kock retired from Tests four years ago, Kyle Verreynne replaced him as the gloveman.
When Quinny retired from white-ball cricket two years ago, Rickelton made the step up, and since then, he has been virtually unchallenged for that position, especially with Heinrich Klaasen having also retired from international cricket.
Recently, De Kock returned to international cricket, and Rickelton finds himself back to square one. Since his return, De Kock has blasted two ODI centuries, while Rickelton has scored only one ton in that time.
As a result, Rickelton has played two of three ODIs in India and is yet to play in the ongoing five-match T20I series.
Now, with De Kock set to join the Mumbai Indians in next year’s IPL, it looks like Rickelton will continue to sit in De Kock’s shadow beyond international cricket despite having formed an explosive partnership with India’s Rohit Sharma.
De Kock was sold to the Mumbai Indians for R1.85 million, while other South African players including David Miller (R3.69 million to Delhi Capitals), Lungi Ngidi (R3.9 million to Delhi Capitals) and Anrich Nortje (R3.69 million to LSG) went for higher amounts.
A few Proteas players went unsold, including Gerald Coetzee, Kyle Verreynne, Wiaan Mulder, Reeza Hendricks, George Linde, Eathan Bosch and Dwaine Pretorius.
Youngsters Connor Esterhuizen and Tristan Luus also went unsold, despite putting their names in the hat for the auction.
