Former Proteas fast bowler Duanne Olivier is moving on to purely focus on the game after admitting initial struggles with dealing with the fall-out over turning Kolpak.

Olivier like the rest of Yorkshire’s contracted player has been placed on furlough. The decision comes amid a dearth of domestic and international cricket around the world amid preventative measures against the spread of the coronavirus.

Olivier took 43 wickets in 13 County Championship Division One fixtures at a relatively high average of 32 last year.

‘Last season wasn’t my best, according to my standards. But I learnt a lot,’ he was quoted as saying by the Yorkshire Telegraph & Argus.

‘It was only the last month or two where I got back to feeling myself – bowling better, anyway. But I know where I went wrong. At the end of the day, it’s all about adapting to new surroundings and team-mates, and maybe I was a little bit over eager to impress.

‘It was a really tough year, but in a way it was a good year because I learnt a lot about myself.’

The 27-year-old effectively ended a burgeoning international career in 2019, after signing a Kolpak contract with Yorkshire. He had taken 48 wickets in Tests for the Proteas – and broken into the ODI XI.

‘I still get the odd comment here and there, but I’m better at dealing with it now. I’m not going to worry as much about what people think,’ he added.

‘It was a massive decision, and everybody has an opinion. I respect that. But maybe I let what people said get to me more than I should have. We are all human at the end of the day. My pure focus is on cricket now.

“I have nothing to prove to anyone and nothing to lose. But I have so much to gain.’

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