Moreki wants more taste of the Test arena

Tshepo Moreki has looked at Jimmy Anderson and thought: “I can do that.” 

Play until he’s 40, that is, and as unlikely as it seems, earn more Test caps. There’s no chance he’ll match Anderson’s 187 Test caps — South Africa don’t play enough in the red ball format — but having another go at Test cricket is something that still drives Moreki.

“Performance, season after season, is what gets you in, so God forbid, but if there is an injury, or someone loses form, if I can do a job in that team, then I want to be ready to do it,” he said.

It’s nearly two months since Moreki dejectedly walked off Seddon Park in Hamilton, where, as part of a drastically under-strength Proteas team, he had suffered another expected defeat to New Zealand. 

Rather than put him off international cricket, Moreki returned to South Africa desperate for more, and wanting to play for as long as possible. “I joked with Russell (Domingo, the Central Gauteng Lions coach), that ‘if Jimmy Anderson can play until he is 40, so can I’.

“I’m quite a fit guy. I asked him how I could go about trying to do that. I was saying it in jest... but in reality there is no reason I can’t play for as long as my skill set is good and my game keeps improving.”

The circumstances of that New Zealand tour have been pored over ad nauseam. Just this week, former Proteas captain Dean Elgar told espncricinfo.com that the way the tour happened was “shitty”. But it also caused much introspection for cricket and the future, especially of the Test format. 

Meanwhile, even now, Moreki has to pinch himself that he got the opportunity to open the bowling for South Africa. “It is weird looking back, it feels like it happened four years ago,” he said with a smile.

It is weird looking back, it feels like it happened four years ago

—  Tshepo Moreki about the New Zealand tour

“If we were brutally honest among ourselves, the best thing to get out of that tour was to see if you could mix it with some of the best in the world, if you were at it... I took a lot out of that tour.”

It meant sharing post-series drinks with players Moreki, for the most part, would not have dreamt of encountering.

“Tim Southee (NZ’s captain) said we should come to their changeroom for a beer and have a chat. We sat for a few hours. They were completely open, just a great bunch of guys.”

From hearing how they should limit themselves, to keeping the game as simple as possible, to how Test cricket was about patience, the tips passed on by the Black Caps came in handy two weeks later when Moreki, donning the kit of the Lions, played a big part in a gripping first-class final, which would comfortably be a candidate for match of the season.

Moreki grabbed a five-wicket haul and scored a crucial second innings 57 as the Lions fought back from behind to defeat Western Province by 99 runs on the last day. “I always put pressure on myself, but I was probably more relaxed going into that final than I have been for a while. I played 15 to 16 first-class games going into that final this season, so I was very happy with where my game was and the anxiety was at an all-time low.”

There is a realisation that his Test career may already be over after just the two matches, but every time Moreki opens the top drawer at home and stares at his Test cap, he can’t help but be inspired, which raises the faint possibility that there will be another chance to don it. “I still have aspirations to play for SA again, under different circumstances...”