Thoughts On The Last Mile!

Having been regarded as a part-time bowler, Jean-Paul Duminy’s off-spin is seen as potentially vital to the balance of the South African team.

- Neil Manthorp

Six months ago Jean-Paul Duminy faced an agonisingly difficult decision. Continue to push through the pain barrier on the field and hope the right shoulder could keep going until the end of the World Cup — and then have the inevitable surgery? Or have the rotator cuff repaired immediately, miss most of the summer and run the risk of not recovering in time for what he knew would be his ODI swansong.

“It was a calculated gamble either way but, if Iwas going to play at theWorldCup, I wanted it to be as close to 100% fit as possible and not carrying an old injury,” Duminy said.

In the decades when South Africa was blessedwith an endless streamof all rounders— fromHansie Cronje to Shaun Pollock, Lance Klusener, Nicky Boje, Mark Boucher,AndrewHall andmanyothers — Duminy’s inclusion would have been far from certain. But now, having been regarded as a parttime bowler, his off-spin is seen as potentially vital to the balance of the team.

“That might be how it shapes up,” he admitted. “All I can do is be ready to step up, if required. There has been plenty of talk about how the wickets might become quite dry and abrasive as the tournament progresses, so spinners could play a role. If that’s the case then yes, I will be happy to play a more prominent role with the ball.”

Not that Duminy is placing undue pressure or expectation on himself. It’s an attitude captain Faf du Plessis has been encouraging amongst all the squad. ‘Allwe cando is our best,’ he told the squad. ‘If that’s not good enough on the day thenwe canwalk away proud. There are six or seven teams who probably believe they should win it, and they can all beat each other on a given day.’