JOHANNESBURG - Heinrich Klaasen enjoyably admits his game is free of “tierlantyntjies (frills)”.
The 25 year old graduate of Menlo Park High in Pretoria doesn’t mind being just a plain old cricketer, because "plain old" sees him on a flight to Auckland on Saturday, where he will be hooking up with the Proteas Test squad ahead of the three-match series against New Zealand, starting in Dunedin on March 8.
Klaasen who, along with fellow Menlo High alumnus Theunis de Bruyn was named in a 16-man squad to tackle the Black Caps, says his approach to the game is simple: “I hit the ball and I catch the ball.”
That’s the approach, but that doesn’t mean Klaasen (pictured) is so naive as to think that’s all that’s required to make it at international or even franchise level. “In order to do those things you need a good technique,” he says.
The "no frills" approach was first highlighted by Cricket South Africa’s National Academy coach Shukri Conrad, who described Klaasen as a "poor man’s MS Dhoni", and has worked particularly well for Klaasen this season, although he admits, it’s taken a great deal of mental application for him to realise he was good enough, just to play for the Titans.
“I struggled mentally, I did doubt my ability and towards the end of last season I did some work with Rob Walter (former Titans coach) and then of course with Mark Boucher when he came. They helped me to get in a good mental space, to believe in myself, to back myself more.”
The mental side of the game is an element Klaasen refers to constantly, and it’s an area that for him is continually evolving. Every aspect of his game feeds back to it; from training specific wicket-keeping techniques with current Titans coach Boucher, or just interacting with players who’ve been in the Proteas set up like Dean Elgar and Chris Morris.
Klaasen admits his selection for the New Zealand tour was unexpected. “This is my first fullish season at franchise level, you look at someone like Rudi Second who’s been performing well for a few seasons in four-day cricket, so for me...this has come quite soon.”
Indeed, Second, still just 27, was in sizzling form in the second half of the Sunfoil Series, scoring two of his three centuries in this season’s competition when the event resumed at the start of the year. He finished with an aggregate of 684 runs, 49 more than Klaasen.
The Titans keeper had mapped out a path towards his first Proteas cap, which involved being the main man for the SA A side. “I talked to Dean and Chris on the golf course a few months back, and the goal was to establish myself in the SA A side. I guess you could say I had a two to three year plan with that, but I’m very grateful for this call-up and I’m looking forward to learning from those okes up there.”
Where Klaasen perhaps stood out ahead of Second this season is when he scored his runs, often with the Titans in trouble, with the first of his four half-centuries in the Sunfoil Series being particularly important.
“The first innings against the Knights in the first Sunfoil game was a big knock for me, the team was under pressure and I made 82. I took a lot of confidence from that performance.” Playing well under pressure became a feature of Klaasen’s play this season; he made two half-centuries in the same match against the Cobras, with his side 114/4 in the first innings and 80/4 in the second. His highest score this season, 195 against the Dolphins, came out of a Titans first innings total of 403. Given the trouble he’s had with the mental side of his game, it’s a feather in his cap that he’s able to shine brightly when times are darkest.
“Whether at Tuks, school, provincial, where I bat at 5,6 or 7 I'm was always under pressure, but that’s when I played my best. It’s always how I’ve preferred to play,” he says.
Klaasen and De Bruyn are the only two uncapped players in the squad, with the selectors also recalling Morris and Morne Morkel, after the latter had shown that he was over his back ailments. Those two, along with Duanne Olivier and Wayne Parnell will battle it out to join Vernon Philander and Kagiso Rabada in the starting XI for the first Test.
Keshav Maharaj is the sole frontline spinner.
SA TEST SQUAD: Stephen Cook, Dean Elgar, Hashim Amla, JP Duminy, Faf du Plessis (capt), Temba Bavuma, Quinton de Kock, Vernon Philander, Keshav Maharaj, Wayne Parnell, Kagiso Rabada, Theunis de Bruyn, Morne Morkel, Chris Morris, Duanne Olivier, Heinrich Klaasen.