Respected South African pacer Duanne Olivier has chosen to give his “full attention” to Gauteng Lions rather than Proteas selection, as he looks forward to the challenges that lie ahead in the domestic restructuring.

Olivier had previously been a fine prospect for SA cricket, having represented the Proteas between 2017 and 2018, earning 10 Test caps and two ODI appearances.

He then departed for the UK the ensuing season where he represented Derbyshire before joining Yorkshire, where he is currently playing.

Specialising in the red-ball format, Olivier had, at the time of his national call-up, taken 224 first-class wickets at a striking average of 21.38.

While doing duty for the Proteas, the 28-year-old amassed 48 Test wickets at an exemplary average of 19.25.

With the prospect of getting selected for the national side in the foreseeable future, the right-arm fast bowler said his main focus was on his present game first and foremost, before mulling over a possible call-up.

“My focus will be to just play for the Gauteng Lions and I think that’s (national selection) a little bit out of my control,” Olivier said exclusively to Cricket Fanatics Magazine.

“I don’t know what they want to do or decide or how they want to go about it, so for me, my focus is on where I’m at the moment. I will give my full attention to that.”

Upon returning to his homeland later this year where he’ll ply his trade in the restructured domestic competition for Gauteng, Olivier anticipates the appetising challenge that the league ought to pose.

“Personally, I think it’s just about always trying to compete because in the previous structure when you were out of the competition you didn’t always compete as much or your intensity just drops a bit.

“Now with the visions and [the fact] that you can get relegated you need to compete in every single game.

“On a personal note and for the team, that helps you to keep on striving to do better,” he said, adding that he still has yet to set himself personal goals at the union, but that he hopes to “bring something different to the team”.

“The Gauteng Lions is a very successful franchise and for me coming in I want to keep pushing [in order] to win trophies.

“For any player and team [the goal] is to keep winning as many trophies as you possibly can.”

Olivier, who was schooled at Hoërskool Centurion in Pretoria, is no stranger to the Johannesburg-based set-up, having played for the Jozi Stars in the Mzansi Super League in 2018.

He said this helped him to formulate his decision of signing for Gauteng when opting to return to SA.

“We spoke to a couple of franchises and the Lions came first and it was something I couldn’t turn down,” he said. “I know most of the people there and my teammates, as well as the CEO Jono [Leaf-Wright].

“I know the structures and everything and I had a great time with the Jozi Stars.”

Olivier reiterated that the restructuring of the domestic league was a “good” implementation made by CSA, as it pushes for a more competitive and high-stakes environment for the respective teams involved.

“It’s obviously new so it might be a bit chaotic at first. But I think it’s a really good move because teams can get relegated so it’ll always push you to do better, especially for players and teams in the second division wanting to move up.

“It will be a great competition for both the first and second divisions and there are a lot of players, as well as ex-players, playing so the competition will be quite strong.”

Olivier looks forward to playing alongside several players in the Gauteng fold, with no particular players “standing out”.
It will be “good” to link up with Reeza Hendricks in the side, though, after having played with him at the Knights before he left for the UK.

“There are so many guys,” he quipped. “There are a few guys there that I played with when I was with the Jozi Stars and then obviously when you get the Proteas [players] back it’ll be good for the franchise and the team.

“There are so many faces that stand out that there’s no particular one where I’m like, ‘I have to play with this person’.”

Olivier is set to land in SA at the beginning of October, after which he hopes to “get settled in quite quickly” at the Gauteng set-up.

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