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Cape Town - Dwaine Pretorius joins the likes of Chris Morris, Wayne Parnell, Andile Phehlukwayo and David Wiese in the hunt to secure one of the genuine all-rounder positions in South Africa's ODI set-up.
Pretorius has been called up to a 13-man squad for a one-off ODI against Ireland in Benoni on September 25 and will be hoping to make his debut.
READ: PRETORIUS GOES FROM OPERATING TABLE TO PROTEAS
Phehlukwayo is also in that squad but, unlike Pretorius, he has the added bonus of being included in the squad for the five-match series against Australia that follows.
A Shaun Pollock, Lance Klusener, Mark Boucher-type player ... that is what many feel has been missing from this side for a long time - players with the ability to be consistently successful with bat and ball (wicketkeeping, in Boucher's case).
Parnell, Morris and Wiese have been used with varying success as the side's genuine all-rounders in recent times, and now Pretorius is hoping to become a part of that group too.
According to him, it could be with the bat where he offers something a bit extra.
"If you look at the amount of games I’ve played I’m probably still young in cricketing terms," he told Sport24 this week.
"I want to bat five or six for the Lions and I really believe I can offer the team a lot with the bat.
"I don’t think I’m just a bowling all-rounder. I think I have the ability and that my ability is at a stage where I can be a 50/50 all-rounder.
"That’s what I’m working towards and that’s the job I want to do."
Pretorius, close friends with Morris from their time together at the Lions, says he does not view the competition for all-rounder positions as saturated or intimidating.
"I think it’s more motivating. I do something completely different to Morry (Morris) and Parnell," he said.
"They both are probably 135/140 km/h bowlers, I’m more 130.
"They probably are more aggressive and try bounce people out and I’m more simple. My game plans are, I think, very different to theirs. I like to keep it quiet my end and pick up wickets that way by frustrating the batsmen."
Pretorius wants to be that dependable No 7 that the Proteas can call on to do a job in both innings.
"If you look at the balance of the side, I think South Africa wants a solid all-rounder to bat at No 7 and score runs consistently," said Pretorius.
"If I want to fulfill that role I need to basically do it for the Lions. If I can do that then I’m sure I’ll be knocking on the door for another opportunity for South Africa in the future.
"That is what I’m aiming for – to keep my bowling where it is now and then just score more runs than I did last year."
