Auckland – Morné Morkel carries the nickname of “Haydos” on account of his wanting – or thinking he can – bat like the great Australia opener of yesteryear, Matthew Hayden.
Morkel borrows another trait from Hayden – a stint of visualisation before a match.
Hayden would plonk himself down at the top of the pitch that will be used for the game and just stare out across the field. The day before any match, Morkel does something similar.
He will choose a point – usually at the top of his run – and then slowly walk towards the pitch. Then he’ll go into his “gather”, much as he would do when he bowls, do a gentle follow-through, stand at the crease and just stare, straight ahead.
Visualisation is a vital element in Morkel’s preparation – a vital part of his game. It’s been crucial to how he has performed here at the World Cup, where he has been South Africa’s best bowler – that’s right – the best bowler, not something often said about Morkel.
On account of his height and the pace at which he bowls, the general perception of Morkel is that he hasn’t taken nearly enough wickets in his international career. In Tests, he’s on 217 at an average of 29.35, while in 98 ODIs he’s picked up 166 at 24.06 with an economy rate of 4.89.
His critics say he should have taken more, but ignore the fact that this South African side have the likes of Dale Steyn and Imran Tahir all taking wickets, too. The pressure Morkel creates gets wickets for them.
At this World Cup, though, Morkel’s threat has brought reward – on 14 occasions.
His spell at Kumar Sangakkara last Wednesday was crucial to the outcome of the quarter-final. He was hostile, getting steepening bounce at great pace.
That was part of South Africa’s plan for the World Cup’s most impressive batsman. For Morkel it was the continuation of some sublime form he is showing in the competition.
The hard work is paying off, but beyond that there’s been a different look to the 30-year-old out here. He appears a more confident player, which is not often the case with Morkel, who is naturally shy and soft-spoken.
He was once looked upon as the squad’s clown, good for a laugh because he was a bit of goof-ball. And, while he can still kid around, he is now more of a leader, and is actually relishing the position.
AB de Villiers saw a change in him over the course of the summer.
“The fact that he was part of the Kolkota (Knight Riders) team that won the IPL last year played a big part in his career,” De Villiers said.
“You can see a lot of belief in his eyes. He talks with a lot of confidence and he’s taken up a lot of responsibility in the bowling unit.
“It’s not only Dale, Morné is one of the captains of the bowling unit. He’s backed it up with performance, he walks the talk – he’s very confident. I don’t think you’ve always seen that in his career, so the fact he’s lifted a trophy in the IPL has played a big part in him really believing he can play a big role in teams winning cups.”
Listening to Morkel, that’s been apparent, too. When South Africa lost to Pakistan, Morkel interestingly pointed out that he felt the side’s preparation for that match was wrong.
“We need to understand better where we are playing, the outfield (at Eden Park) is lush, so when we practice we should have been facing new balls more in the nets,” he said.
The Morkel of two years ago would not have been so forthright – not publicly, anyway – and probably also not in the dressing room, where his shyness meant others spoke. He joked.
But not at this World Cup. Morkel has led by word and deed – seriously.
“He is the hardest worker ever. He bowls the most overs in the nets and after he does the extra work, he comes back, does his ‘death’ bowling and he’s been rewarded for all that hard work,” said one of the team’s consultants, Charl Langeveldt.
“He’s one of those guys who never opts out of an optional training; he’s doing that extra work. Unlike before, nowadays he’s more technical; we’ll have a technical session at the start of the week and he is the first one to come and do video analysis; he’s big on that – he works closely with Prasanna (Agoram, the team’s video analyst).”
Always self-critical, Morkel was known for tearing himself up whenever he made mistakes.
“He has to hit his lengths hard, we don’t want him to bowl too full too quickly, let batsmen try and hit him off his lengths. We haven’t even gone to the change ups – because he has worked on a few slower balls – I’ve told him he doesn’t have to go to the slower balls if he doesn’t need them,” Langeveldt explained.
“If something’s working on the night, then stick with it, that’s where he’s been good. In that respect he’s changed – when I first met him, he would ask if he should bowl a wide yorker, and I’ve said to him, don’t do that, if you’re hitting your lengths hard and it’s working, then stick with it.”
So he has. Langeveldt says he and head bowling coach Allan Donald have had to remind Morkel that pitches here actually suit him – slightly hard and quicker than the sub-continent and that he should utilise that. He has made it work for him, but there remains a lot for him and the team to do.
Morkel won’t shy away from that, though. This new, more confident version of Morkel is a leader. He’s more vocal behind the scenes.
“He’s taken the responsibility … at the start of the tournament we sat down and spoke about what we wanted to achieve and he said: ‘I want to be the leading wicket-taker.’ He started off taking two or three and I told him you never know, you keep taking two to three wickets a game, you’ll be up there. A lot of it has to do with confidence, that’s important to him,” Langeveldt added.