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OPINION: Rilee Rossouw needs to take the Simon Harmer route back into Proteas setup

If Rilee Rossouw wants to return to the Proteas setup he needs to do it in the same way that Simon Harmer has.

Rilee Rossouw

If Rilee Rossouw wants to return to the Proteas setup he needs to do it in the same way that Simon Harmer has.

Two women looking excitedly at cellphone

If Rilee Rossouw wants to return to the Proteas setup he needs to do it in the same way that Simon Harmer has.

Harmer left South African cricket on a Kolpak before Rossouw and during his time abroad undoubtedly grew as a cricketer.

While in England, Harmer let it be known that he felt he was good enough to play for South Africa.

However, it was only when he returned to South Africa and started winning matches at First Class level that the selectors took notice.

There was very little debate surrounding the issue because Harmer had proved himself to be among the best spinners in South Africa, especially in the red-ball game.

Rossouw has also returned to South Africa, slotting into the Free State team, but is yet to light up the domestic scene.

He has enjoyed a great Vitality Blast but the competition isn’t an accurate barometer for Proteas selection given the standard of the competition.

While South African competitions might not necessarily be better than the Blast, the benefit from a selectors point of view is that in our domestic cricket, most of the players competing are eligible for Proteas selection.

This makes it easy for selectors to see who is rising to the top, and who can contribute.

While Rossouw is a former international, it has been a long time since he played at the highest level, and his past form in the green and gold is now irrelevant.

His choice of union could be a blessing or a curse, as playing in the Free State is generally good for a top batter’s average but also means that he will be asked to really pile on the runs.

In last season’s One Day Cup, Rossouw finished 21st on the top-scorers list, having played six matches out of a possible eight, and was fourth among the Knights’ run-getters.

Rossouw enjoyed a good run of form in the T20 tournament though, and forcing his way back into the team in this format is a realistic goal.

If in good form, Rossouw could make for an interesting opening partner to Quinton de Kock in the short format, and might improve a T20 side that only needs a bit of X-factor to be world-beaters.

The concern might be that the CSA T20 KO tournament was very short.

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