The firing Matthew Breetzke has attained the fine skills of how to simplify his game and play more freely, which, according to him, has aided him into scoring prolifically, particularly in T20 cricket.

Breetzke, who went to Grey High School in Gqeberha, scored three successive half-centuries in the Warriors’ three pool games in the ongoing CSA Provincial T20 Cup to help steer his side to the quarter-finals.

The 22-year-old accumulated scores of 51, 59 and 80 against the Rocks, Limpopo Impala and Eastern Cape Inyathi respectively and he has certainly turned heads with the style of batting he has wielded.

“I’ve incorporated a couple of new shots to my game but it’s more been a confidence thing and just freeing up,” Breetzke told Cricket Fanatics Magazine. “When I went into the MSL I wasn’t completely sure what my role was batting at the top with Jason Roy.

“It was sort of like, who’s going to be the aggressor, who’s not going to be the aggressor. I put too much pressure on myself and premeditated a lot of my shots.

“Whereas now I’m just watching the ball and letting the shots find me. I do have many shots so my mind can get pretty creative out there. Keeping it as simple as possible has probably been the best thing for me.”

From a personal standpoint, Breetzke has always strived to follow the creed of being “as simple as possible” and he took an assortment of lessons from the MSL on how to best fulfil his strengths as a batter.

The youngster, although still in his infancy in terms of his cricket career, has gained significant wisdom over the past few years on how to accomplish any shortcomings he may have encountered before.

“Over the last couple of seasons I probably haven’t enjoyed my cricket,” he said. “I put a lot of pressure on myself. Now I’m just trying to enjoy it and hopefully, the performances will come.”

The opening batsman claimed that the “big hitters” have slowly started to get “worked out of the T20 game” over the last several years, where bowling has become tighter, and it is this sort of yardstick that Breetzke has aimed to transcend.

“My preparation is just to stay as balanced as possible in all formats. For me, if I’m hitting mid-on well then I’m batting well.

“I’ve tuned my preparation a little bit. I used to go out to the nets and blaze everything, whereas now it’s about working on my contact points, hitting the ball nice and late and looking to really hit the side screen as much as possible.”

As an opener playing in a short format, Breetzke admitted he never aims to “bat through” the entire innings, but rather to lay a foundation and make an impact early on.

“The way T20 cricket is going and the way the culture is at the Warriors, it’s definitely not to bat through, it’s to put in a performance that can change the game.

“Robbie P (Robin Peterson) speaks about it and 30 to 40 balls is a good performance in T20 cricket these days. You can’t just bat through and score 60 off 50 balls – that’s just not good enough anymore.

“It’s always about to look to bat positively, take risks and hopefully get rewarded while trying to put the other team under pressure.”

The Warriors are set to play the unbeaten Dolphins in their quarter-final match-up in Kimberley on October 20.

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