Rilee: Red Ball/White Ball

Rilee: Red Ball/White Ball

May 15, 2019, 2:24 pm
Filed under: Uncategorized

Jo hasn’t seen the article to which I referred in terms of his motivation. The whole piece dated 4 April, is here:

https://www.dailyecho.co.uk/sport/cricket/hampshire_cricket/17548943.hants-batsman-rilee-rossouw-considers-his-red-ball-future/

In that interview, on the day before the Championship started, he said

“I feel like the time in my career right now is more white-ball focused. I’m more white-ball driven than in the past when I could still have had Test ambitions**. I loved red-ball cricket at one stage, but since I retired from international cricket maybe that desire for red-ball cricket has gone down”. Then he added about white ball cricket: “you can go out and earn very good money, rather than playing red-ball cricket and standing for four days in the field”.

(**He never played Test cricket)

Well he hasn’t yet had to stand about in the field for four days in his Hampshire career, but for me there are two key reasons to sign Kolpaks (1) To fill a gap – as with our pace bowlers – because we can’t produce them (sadly) or (2) because they are top class. In the Championship I think any Kolpak batsman in his third season should be averaging 40+ and Rilee, who admits he has lost interest, averages around 27. I think that tells its own story.

It’s not personal. I wish him well, but I was not a fan of his signing as a Kolpak from the start. I don’t blame him, I regret that our policy is often to sign people from elsewhere (ten first-teamers from elsewhere this season to date). In Rilee’s case, it’s a shame that he’s been a pretty permanent selection in the Championship for three seasons instead of some of our home grown younger batsmen. If he continued to play for us with a white ball contract, fine, he’s done pretty well, although next year I guess that would mean merely T20.

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