• Anrich Nortje’s extreme speed ‘excites me’ – Steyn

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    Dale Steyn says he is excited by what he has seen from Cape Town Blitz fast bowler Anrich Nortje. 

    The Blitz has had the perfect start to their Mzansi Super League campaign, beating the Tshwane Spartans in the opening fixture at Newlands, followed by overturning the Durban Heat at Kingsmead on Sunday. 

    The one major positive to take from the Cape Town-based franchise is the manner in which their young talent has stepped up. Kyle Verreynne is one of those players (his unbeaten half-century set the tone for the Blitz against the Spartans), while the other is Nortje, who took four wickets against Durban Heat, which included the prize scalps of Hashim Amla and Temba Bavuma.

    The 25-year-old spoke highly of Steyn and how he has influenced his career, but the young speedster received the perfect compliment from his hero during the Cape Blitz’s press conference ahead of their clash against the Nelson Mandela Bay Giants.

    ‘I am a big fan of the extremes,’ said Steyn. ‘Anrich really gets me excited. When he gets the likes of AB de Villiers to take two balls to have a look, and AB prides himself on not having a dot ball bowled to him, but he let two balls go through. 

    ‘He can be pretty proud himself about that. I think that gets the crowd excited because we have a rich history of fast bowlers in this country. The cupboard is looking good now. I get asked all the time “who is the next fast bowler?”

    ‘Honestly, I can never really tell you since I don’t play enough domestic cricket, because I am always playing for the national team, and then you see the Lungis come up and they might go down, and then you see KG come up and he stayed. 

    ‘He is not going to have a lot of matches televised when he’s playing for the Warriors, and now he has this competition to stand out. He could be a multi-millionaire by the end of December when the IPL auction gets under way, because there are [only] a handful of bowlers that can bowl 150km/h. 

    ‘So, if you can stand up and get the big batsmen out, people are going to have eyes on you.’ 

    Photo: Anesh Debiky/Gallo Images

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    Khalid Mohidin