“There are good players in the domestic structure”

South Africa’s leading wicket taker in Tests, Dale Steyn, emphasised that there are good players in the domestic structure even though he doesn’t agree that the structure is on its way up, writes Ongama Gcwabe.

Retiring from Test Cricket, Dale Steyn took the cricketing public by storm when he retired from red-ball cricket after returning early from the World Cup due to injury.

The 36-year-old hung up his boots after a 15-year Test career in order to prolong his playing time in the white-ball formats.

Having reached that historic 422 wickets, making him SA’s highest wicket taker in Test cricket – against Pakistan in December 2018 – Dale would play only one more series which was his last.

“I didn’t feel like I was used well enough. My last two games can prove that, against Sri Lanka. I took a couple of wickets in Durban and when we got to PE (Port Elizabeth) I hardly bowled,” Steyn said exclusively to Cricket Fanatics Magazine.

“In a crunch game, the captain turned to someone that he needed to, that is the new up-and-coming fast bowler.”

After a disappointing tour to India, it is easy for us to see the void that Steyn’s retirement left in the team.

The young, up-and-coming fast bowlers in the Proteas set up toiled against a formidable India batting line-up.

In the subcontinent, Steyn was one of the most successful non-asian fast bowlers.

His best figures of 7-51 were in India against a line-up that included Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid and Virendar Sehwag.

“We didn’t target the stumps enough,” said Steyn on the Proteas’ bowling performance.

“We hardly got the ball to reverse swing, maybe it’s something we have to address.”

Known for his aggression, Steyn highlighted the lack of aggression from our fast bowlers in the recent Gandhi-Mandela Freedom Series.

“Our aggression was not there. Every time the Indian batters got a hundred or a double hundred, we literally all ran and shook the guy’s hand,” said Steyn.

“I think we showed too much respect and I think we need to be a little more ruthless with the ball.”

The South African domestic structure has become a hot topic amongst the fans and analysts, especially after the terrible World Cup and India tour.

Steyn weighed in on the fact that we always say there are no good players in the domestic scene every time we lose a series.

“Sometimes it irritates me that we have a bad tour of India now, then people say the domestic structure is not good and there’s no one coming through,” he added.

“I don’t particularly agree that the domestic structure is on its way up but I think there are good players in the domestic structure.”