Cape Cobras coach Ashwell Prince will be hoping national boss Ottis Gibson watches his team’s One Day Cup semifinal against the Titans on Wednesday at 1.30pm.
While first prize for Prince would be for his team to beat their hosts and claim a spot in the tournament’s final, he would also like to “introduce” Gibson to a player called Kyle Verreynne.
The 21-year-old wicketkeeper/batsman has been one of the stars in Cape cricket over the past two seasons but has been completely overlooked for national duty to date.
And Prince believes it is because Gibson has not yet seen the youngster play a game of cricket.
The former Proteas batsman rates Verreynne so highly that he would have included him in the Test team as well as his World Cup squad this year.
ATTENTION: Ashwell Prince, head coach of the Cobras. Photo: Backpagepix
Prince explains: “My feelings and thoughts [on Verreynne] are well documented - I backed him as a potential second wicketkeeper for the World Cup.
“He is slight in figure, but he always bats nearly 100 percent strike rate.
“He’s not a big hitter - but he’s almost able to score off every ball and that’s a real skill that senior international players don’t have.
“If I was a selector - those are the types of skills you’re looking for.”
He adds: “I don’t think Ottis Gibson has ever seen Kyle Verreynne play any game of cricket and that’s unfortunately what is happening in our cricket.”
NATIONAL BOSS: Ottis Gibson. Photo: Sydney Mahlangu/Backpagepix
Of Verreynne’s attitude, Prince says: “He’s a very competitive and motivated guy and playing for the Proteas [is] very high up on his agenda.
“But he’s still young.”
Verreynne will have to be at his competitive best against a Titans team that topped the log at the end of the round-robin stage.
And now that his coach at domestic level has grabbed the attention of the national team’s boss, you can be sure Gibson will be watching Verreynne with interest today.