The art of traditional fast bowling has been on a downward spiral in franchise cricket which led Wandile Gwavu, the Imperial Lions coach, on a quest to boost his fast bowling department, writes Ongama Gcwabe.
There’s been a lot of interesting transfers in franchise cricket recently, but none more interesting than the Lions’ signings which include the exciting Lutho Sipamla, Wesley Marshall, and the experienced duo of Sisanda Magala and Tladi Bokako.
READ: Major transfer moves at franchise level
Lions Head Coach, Wandile Gwavu, explained extensively why he went for these players.
“I struggled at some point,” said Gwavu exclusively to Cricket Fanatics Magazine. “Especially in the 4 Day competition with the seamers. It’s vitally important that you’ve got a really good back up with your seamers.
“You normally have a lot of batters especially in the Highveld, the guys are used to scoring runs. So it’s normally easier to take guys from senior provincial and give them an opportunity at this level but to get quality seamers is normally a big challenge.”
Just one look at the transfer list, you quickly realize that most of those guys are seamers or fast bowlers. To be exact, 15 of the 19 transfers are either fast bowlers or seamer all-rounders which tell the narrative that franchises are looking to strengthen their fast bowling department.
READ: Major transfers at franchise level
“I don’t think it’s only the Lions who have got the challenge of looking for good fast bowlers,” said Gwavu.
“I think it’s a national challenge where there’s not really a lot of fast bowlers in the country.”
Obviously there’s a lot of theories and reasons behind these signings. Gwavu lays down the theories behind his new signings.
“Also, I’ve got a big thing where if we want to dominate in franchise cricket we’ve got to start playing some really good cricket at home,” he continued.
“For me as Head Coach, I’m very big on us dominating our home matches before we can even go out and start winning games away. It’s vitally important that we win games away.
“I think it’s always scary for oppositions to come to the Wanderers and get results because they know that with the bowling attack we have it’s going to be very difficult for them to come here at the Wanders and get results.”
In my opinion, with Marshall, the Easterns and the Titans have lost a player with the potential to be one of the most attacking openers in the country.
“With Wesley Marshall, as everybody knows that we’ve lost Wihan Lubbe, I’ve looked at our batting lineup especially in the 50-over competition. The guys did very well, they got runs consistently but I still feel there was always a place for an x-factor player,” said Gwavu.
READ: Wihan Lubbe excited to learn from Robin Peterson at the Warriors
“It’s always important to have that guy in that top four who can take the game away for you and make things easier or better for number five, six and seven. We looked for an x-factor and Wesley Marshall’s got good numbers and has the experience,” he concluded.
READ: Lizaad Williams brings competitive “attitude” to Titans
Photo: Twitter/@LionsCricketSA
