Cape Town - Fast bowler Beuran Hendricks believes he is on the right track despite not getting recent game time for the Proteas' T20 side.
“Selection for South Africa in the T20 format was a step in the right direction. Making sure I perform consistently for the Cape Cobras and the Proteas (when selected), is essential if I want to get into the ICC Twenty20 squad,” said Beuran Hendricks, senior stalwart of the Cobras.
Hendricks was a member of the South African T20 squad in Bangladesh, but wasn’t selected for the two-match series, which was comprehensively won by the Proteas.
But Hendricks said the non-selection did not frustrate or bother him. The fact that he spent time with a man who had been his mentor for a number of years, Charl Langeveldt, was a blessing.
Hendricks nipped out 28 batsmen in the Ram Slam T20 Challenge in 2013/14, and also produced match-figures of 11-63 in the winter of 2013 when representing South Africa 'A' against India 'A'.
Hendricks said he was given some routines by Greg King, the South African strength and conditioning coach for the off-season.
Hendricks had a roller-coaster ride following his return from back injury in 2014/15 and struggled somewhat to assert himself.
He showed some glimpses of his superb ability in the final Sunfoil Series match of the season by taking seven for 74 in the emphatic win by an innings and 117 runs against the Sunfoil Dolphins.
Hendricks knows that bowling in a T20 International is not only about physical ability, swing and seam, but also about the right mindset when generating a head of steam at the start, or producing yorkers at the business end of innings.
“Creating the right mindset and adjusting to the different pressures are some of the things I am working on in training,” he said.