30-year old, Imperial Lions and Proteas player Duanne Olivier chatted to Lions Cricket post a pre-season practice. Clearly chomping at the bit to get going, the Proteas fast bowler says he cannot wait to take on the new season. We trust you’ll enjoy the read as much as we enjoyed the interview.
How are you feeling at the moment?
From a personal point of view and with my Lions Cricket cap on, I’ve had a good pre-season. My body is occasionally stiff (which is to be expected) from bowling, but so far all has gone well. Plenty of guys are here and putting in the hard work pre-season.
Your thoughts in terms of the upcoming international cricket season?
I believe it’s going to be a tough one. I haven’t watched a lot of cricket of late but know that a lot of teams are playing attacking cricket. If we come under pressure, we must be level headed and stick together as a team – and we’ll come out on top. We haven’t played much cricket of late with it having been our off-season, but some have played County cricket which will help.
Talk to us about the domestic side of life?
The beautiful thing about playing for the Imperial Lions is that there’s so many talented players in this set up – many at National level, and then plenty coming through the ranks which we saw at the One Day Cup when we were missing something like 7 or 8 players who were on National duty.
Mitch, Codi and others showed that they can step up, and it’s a great balance when mixed with the more experienced group of players such as Dom and Bjorn.
Someone like Ronan made his debut in the final – throwing him in the deep end and watching him step up – that’s real promise and talent – he came through. Such an example shows you that guys are eager to perform here. And with plenty coming through the academy doors, one always has to push to maintain his place.
As a Union, we’re in very good hands – from the coaching and management staff, through to the CEO and every other person behind the scenes plays a massive role and I believe that their energy, expertise and passion all filters down to the players.