Big-hitting batsman Lhuan-dre Pretorius clashed with quick Kwena Maphaka during their primary-school days.
The two are now good friends, having played together in high school and for the Paarl Royals in this year’s SA20, but that wasn’t always the case.
“We go back a long way. We played against each from U11 to U13,” Pretorius told the Sunday Times.
“He always bowled quick. I remember at U13, he bowled to me with a short leg, and I would just block it and try to frustrate him. We always chirped each other, sometimes it got a bit ugly.
“But it worked out,” Pretorius added. “We went to [St Stithians] College together and played for a very long time together.
“It’s much nicer being in his team than against him. We are quite good friends now, he’s very calm, a very nice guy, chilled and does his own thing.”
Eighteen-year-old Maphaka has already played for the Proteas in all three formats, with 19-year-old Pretorius staking a claim for white-ball selection in the SA20. He was the top run-scorer with 397 in 12 matches at an average of 33.08 and a strike rate of 166.80.
Pretorius carried that form into the domestic season, scoring two centuries for the Northerns Titans in the One-Day Cup and two centuries and a fifty in the 4-Day Series.
“That’s a very big thing, the pinnacle, it’s a dream of mine,” he said of his Proteas’ ambitions. “Things will fall into place as long as you do the right things, I’m just trying to stick to a process, it’s working so far and I’m not going to force anything.”
Photo: Shaun Roy/Sportzpics
