After Surrey CC won the English County Championship Division 1 championship on Thursday, Hashim Amla will bring a winning attitude to MI Cape Town this season.
Amla contributed significantly to the Oval-based county’s 21st Championship victory with 674 runs at an average of 42.12, including two centuries.
However, the 39-year-old has agreed to work with MI Cape Town as their batting coach alongside head coach Simon Katich, trading up his willow for a coaching hat.
Amla said last week that he was “eager to assist MI Cape Town players pull the best out of themselves and also make SA cricket better.” He was “thrilled” to begin this new chapter with MI Cape Town and hoped to add “my expertise as a player and coach.”
Dewald Brevis, the newest batting sensation in South Africa, will undoubtedly benefit from the Proteas legend’s experience. The Mumbai Indians global franchise, which holds Brevis in high regard, took up the teenage phenom ahead of this week’s first SA20 auction.
In a recent six-ball inning for St. Kitts and Nevis Patriots versus Trinbago Knight Riders in the Caribbean Premier League, Brevis went bang bang in, hitting five sixes of his final five balls.
Ryan Rickelton, a current Proteas Test batsman, and Grant Roelofson, another promising young player who is just 26 years old, will also be working with Amla.
Amla’s prior experience as a batting advisor was with the Peshawar Zalmi in the Pakistan Super League, when he had a significant impact on the growth of young England hitter Tom Banton.
As our batting mentor in Pakistan, Hashim Amla sat me down after a string of poor performances and told me, “It’s not all about cricket, there’s a lot more to life than a first-baller” — and I did.
“It was a pleasure to work with Hash and see his method of operation. It forced me to step back and realise that I should simply appreciate the moment since it may not come around again.”
When the SA20 League kicks off in January of next year, MI Cape Town will be hoping Amla has a similar effect on players like Brevis, Rickleton, and Roelofson.