For a fast bowler who has made his name north of the Jukskei River with Northerns and the Titans at SuperSport Park, Lungi Ngidi has a peculiar soft spot for the Wanderers.
At South Africa's most intimidating Test venue, Ngidi has forced people to look in his direction.
In helping the Titans to a nine-wicket win over the Lions in the Sunfoil Series this week, he collected a first-class best 6/37 and match figures of 9/83 in only his ninth first-class match.
In the three Twenty20 internationals he's played, he took 4/19 against Sri Lanka even though he was on the losing side.
The excellence of those past returns matter little to him when the curse of the lower-back stress fracture common to fast bowlers came knocking.
The injury struck Ngidi on tour with the South Africa A side in England in June and he only made his comeback in the fifth Sunfoil Series round that concluded on Thursday.
"It wasn't the first time I've had this injury and I had it at the back of my mind that it was going to happen at some point with the amount of cricket I was playing compared to the amount of training I'd done. The training wasn't enough quite frankly," Ngidi said.
The 21-year-old knows it is common among his species of cricketer but it has changed his outlook on the game.
Lower-back stress fractures often force pace bowlers to tweak their actions but there wasn't a discernible difference in Ngidi, except for his attitude. With a hard taskmaster like Mark Boucher, change was going to come sooner rather than later.
"You have to realise as an athlete that injuries do happen but it's not the end of the world. There's no point sitting around and crying about those injuries," Ngidi said.
"Your tears will dry but your situation won't have changed. In a way I've enjoyed the break the injury has afforded me because I've got to know myself as a person, knowing what my limits are as a person and pushing those limits.
"There were a lot of hard chats in terms of my training regime, my rehabilitation and my lifestyle in general.
"There were a lot of good points that were made and I feel it was a very good management effort that has been made.
"Hard chats though are a necessity when you're a young player and I also believe that honesty is the best policy.
"Sugar-coating certain things for players doesn't help their development. When you are not pulling your weight or not up to standard, you need to know."
The Hilton College old boy has had to watch from the sidelines as Wiaan Mulder, Andile Phehlukwayo and Dane Paterson staked their limited-overs claims.
While the main South African Test fast bowling contingent has had to deal with all sorts of ailments, the likes of Duanne Olivier and Phehlukwayo have surged ahead of him as Bangladesh were the starters ahead of summer that will include Indian and Australian main courses.
But a long summer like the one South Africa has which includes eight Tests and limited-overs junk means Ngidi will have his turn at the buffet at some point.
Convener of selectors Linda Zondi has an aggressive youth policy and this is something Ngidi is aware of.
"The empowerment of young players makes me very happy but I like to take things one step at a time.
"If I can keep putting in the performances like I did in this game, I know I can keep knocking on the selection door. So long as I keep knocking, at some point they'll have to open for me.
"Patience is important because you know when your time is going to come and you have to grab that opportunity when it comes. You find yourself thinking that you deserve things that are not quite there for you yet.
"The injuries aren't my focus, it's about performance and showing that I'm ready for the next step."
