South African seam bowler Andre Nel, who has proved a constant thorn in the West Indian side, admitted on Sunday that there were times he thought he would not play Test cricket for his country again.
Nel took a career best of five for 87 to help dismiss the West Indies for 427. South Africa ended the third day of the third Test at Newlands on 38 without loss, a lead of 143 with two days to play.
Since returning to the Test team, Nel has provided the aggression so sorely missing from the South African attack, playing a pivotal role in unsettling the West Indies.
Nel, however, spent a frustrating time in the domestic wilderness after being axed after the disastrous Australian series in 2002.
The Easterns seamer was savaged by an Australian batting line-up that thrived on his lack of pace and direction.
”In a certain way I probably did give up on playing Test cricket again,” said Nel. ”But now that I’ve been given this lifeline I want to grab it and hang on.”
In shedding a few kilograms and changing his grip on the ball, Nel has picked up considerable pace, regularly passing the 150km/h mark.
The final wicket captured by Nel was probably the most prized — Brian Lara.
Lara made 115 to become the fifth batsman to pass 9 000 runs. It is not a milestone that appears to be of particular importance to the West Indies skipper.
”I suppose it is an achievement,” responded Lara, ”but in the context of the game I must put that aside.
”In the next two days we must play the type of cricket we know we can play with both bat and ball. ”I probably need to extend those runs way beyond 9 000.’ – Sapa