Vernon Philander’s illustrious Test career has run its course. The search for the next “Big Vern” is in full swing.
The leading candidate seems to be the relatively unknown Glenton Stuurman.
The 27-year-old is a fast-medium bowler for the Warriors in the Eastern Cape, but was “born-and-bred” in Oudtshoorn.
Stuurman will get his first chance to audition in front of a wider television audience this weekend when he turns out for KG’S Kingfishers in the inaugural 3TC tournament set to be held at an empty SuperSport Park on Saturday. He is one of only two uncapped national players to be invited to the unique event that will feature three eight-man sides captained by AB de Villiers, Quinton de Kock and fast bowler Kagiso Rabada.
“Vern was a phenomenal cricketer for South Africa and you don’t want to put that type of pressure on a young cricketer coming through, but Glenton definitely has a very good skill set,” says Stuurman’s former South Western Districts (SWD) coach Baakier Abrahams.
“I think he will still pick up a few yards in pace now that he’s in a fully-fledged professional set-up at the Warriors. He came through the club system at SWD.
“There is an adaptation period for a cricketer to adapt to the rigours of professional cricket, but with the right conditioning programme I can definitely see the difference in regards to the player that I had at SWD three years ago. The evolution of Glenton is on an upward trajectory because he’s been exposed to a higher level and it’s now given him the self-belief that he can play for South Africa.”
It seems the similarities with Philander rests not just with their ability to move the ball both ways, but also in the road travelled to reach the top.
Philander was a product of Tygerberg Cricket Club in Ravensmead, while Stuurman also cut his teeth in the often maligned club cricket system.
This opposes the norm with the vast majority of national players having graduated from the ivy-league school and academy systems. With South African cricket under the microscope in terms of being accessible to all and pathways needing to be developed for not only the elite to reach the top, Abrahams believes club cricket has the potential to be a significant role player in trying to achieve this goal.
“I definitely think there is a place for club cricket. If you think about it in terms of where do you start? A kid is not going to walk off the street into a high-performance environment or academy.
“There is someone in the community that is putting in the hours that is making the game accessible to club cricketers and by doing so you are getting more and more people involved in the game and playing the game,” said Abrahams, who previously led the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University to the national club championship title.
“This is how you uncover the rough diamonds because they have to be discovered somewhere. This is particularly crucial in the disadvantaged areas where school structures might not be as good and this is where the clubs attract the youth to the game. There is definitely a space for club cricket in the greater landscape of South African cricket.”
Stuurman claimed 18 wickets at an average of 25.33 for the Warriors last season, which included a best of 5/72 against a strong Cape Cobras side at Newlands.