Publications
Partners
“He’s one of those guys who never looks like you’re going to get him out.”
Given that South African Under-19 coach Lawrence Mahatlane was talking about teenager Sinethemba Qeshile, who just last year was one of his charges, the assertion above sounds a little like an exaggeration.
But the Dolphins and the Highveld Lions – the two teams who have encountered the precocious 19-year-old in his first two franchise outings – may be inclined to agree after the Warriors wicketkeeper-batsman introduced himself by scoring a combined three half-centuries against the two teams.
Having scored 52 not out in his franchise debut against the Dolphins in March, Qeshile followed up with a 58 and an unbeaten 69 in his side’s campaign opener against the Lions last week.
Going into the Titans game, where he made 16 in the first innings and did not bat in the second innings of the drawn game, the former Hudson Park pupil had a first-class record of 258 runs from four games at an average of 51.60 – an incredible start that has dropped liberal hints that we have a live one on our hands.
It’s a view Warriors coach Rivash Gobind shares: “We picked him for our last game of last season and, as soon as he walked in, he was outstanding in terms of his maturity.
"He’s been outstanding in terms of his attitude and performance. I’m so happy for him for this initial success because he’s a well-grounded guy who’ll grow to be one of the leaders in our team.
“The way he played in the Lions game – if you’d asked who had played a couple of seasons of first-class cricket, you would have said it was him.
"That was a good bowling line-up, but he handled them well even when [fast bowler] Beuran Hendricks gave him a little verbal abuse.
“[Proteas test batsman] Temba Bavuma had really good stuff to say about how well organised he is. I’ve known him for a while in terms of his reputation last year, and the first time I saw him, I was really impressed.”
Asked what gave Qeshile a chance at a successful career, Gobind pointed to a simple technique and the fact that his “defensive play against spin is very good, especially for a player who was in school last year”.
“His balance is really good and we’re trying to keep it simple and not complicate things. But his greatest strength for me is his mental capacity to absorb pressure from the bowlers and transfer it back.
"I was there when [Proteas batsman] Hashim Amla scored his first first-class 100 and I see similarities.”
Mahatlane, who had to make the tough call of picking Wandile Makwetu over last year’s Coke Week Player of the Tournament as his wicketkeeper-batsman for the Under-19 World Cup earlier this year, said Qeshile’s calmness at the crease was impressive.
“He’s very relaxed, knows his game and his limits, and plays accordingly,” he said, before warning that the youngster “cuts everything to pieces” and has a handy on-drive.
The quietly confident Qeshile, an AB de Villiers-loving, seamstress’ son from Gonubie in East London, is enthused by his start to the big time: “I don’t know how to describe it ... Coming out of school and on to the big stage and doing that was quite good because of the change of levels.
“I tried not to change anything and I was feeling confident because we’d done a lot of preparation in the off-season and I’d scored a 50 in my debut match.
"I’m excited about what’s happened in the past few months. It’s a relief to have got the 50s out of the way early.
“The big picture is getting a century, which I feel is around the corner, but not to look too far forward and making sure that my goals are in the present.”
Much like De Villiers, Qeshile describes himself as a batsman-wicketkeeper who has batted in the top five his whole life, but is not fussed about the Warriors starting him out at six.
He’s able to manage his workload as the keeping duties are rotated with fellow former Under-19 keeper Clyde Fortuin.
His devotion to De Villiers is due to “the way he plays, the way he approaches batting and how calm he is under pressure”, adding that his own style was focusing on “timing the ball and not going too hard at it”, traits that have helped with a good back- and front-foot punch and playing spin well.
Apart from the heightened intensity, he said the biggest lesson he’d learnt was the importance of time at the crease: “Batting time is key, you’ve got to bat time because that’s how you get runs.”
