Pretorius hopes to cash in on fresh start

Dwaine Pretorius' cricketing career was just beginning when it almost ended. It was 2008, he was 18 years old and had been named in South Africa's Under-19 World Cup squad, but he never got to the event. On the first of January that year, Pretorius tore the cartilage in his right knee and decided to study instead of play sport, at least for a while.

"I realised that sport is unpredictable and it would be a good idea to get my career sorted so that I would have something if cricket didn't work out," Pretorius, who has been named in South Africa's squad for the one-off ODI against Ireland, told ESPNcricinfo. "But my dad said that after I got my degree, he would financially support for a year or two to see if I could make it as a cricketer."

Pretorius enrolled in an Accounting degree course at the University of Pretoria and for three years concentrated on his academics. He played for the student team but never ventured into anything more serious until he graduated. Even then, he contemplated furthering his education to become a chartered accountant (CA) before remembering the deal he had made with his father. "We went on a family holiday and I said to my dad that when I am lying on my deathbed, I'm not going to think that I should have tried to become a CA but I might think that I should have tried to become a cricketer."

To pursue that ambition, Pretorius returned to his home province, North West, even though the team's coach, Monty Jacobs, warned him that there was little chance of breaking into the team. "Monty said to me the squad was pretty settled and it would be tough to get a game but that I should come through and we could see," Pretorius said.

The 'seeing,' meant exactly that. For months, Pretorius trained and watched his team-mates play but did not take the field himself. "It was very frustrating," he said. "I felt like I was doing nothing and I started to wonder whether that was the best decision for me. Every time the thought came into my head, I reminded myself that I would regret not trying."

Finally, in the last game of the season, in 2011, Pretorius got a look-in. He was selected for a three-day game against Kwa-Zulu Natal Inland and went wicketless in the first innings. Things got better when his turn to bat came. He scored 53 and then took 5 for 38 to set up the team's victory.

The following summer, Pretorius was a regular and made a name for himself as an allrounder in the shortest format. In five T20 matches he took six wickets at 21.50 and scored 179 runs including two fifties at 59.66. He was awarded the T20 Amateur Cricketer of the Year award at CSA's 2012 prize-giving and was included in the Lions' franchise squad to play in the Champions League T20 but his knee had other ideas.

He suffered a second injury and required major surgery. At 23, he again thought his career had ended but after fighting his way back, he found a way to resuscitate it by changing his approach. Instead of trying to get quicker, he decided to get cleverer.

"In my rookie years I was obsessed with pace and I felt like I would never play for South Africa if I didn't reach 140kph. But after that, I shifted my focus," he said. "I thought about what makes Vernon Philander so good as a player and I asked guys at the Lions and the answer they gave me was that he never misses his spot. In business terms, I thought that was part of the market I would carve out for myself."

Pretorius put his efforts into accuracy, an awayswinger, and developing his all round game. He spent hours with Lions' bowling coach Gordan Parsons and in the 2014-15 season was rewarded with a franchise contract. He became an important member of the Lions side and in the following year was judged the South African Cricketers' Association's most valuable player across all formats. He was included in the South African A side to play in a quadrangular series in Australia this winter and is now one of three new names in the ODI squad, alongside Andile Phehlukwayo and Temba Bavuma.

Unlike the other two, Pretorius isn't part of the squad for the five-match series against Australia that follows the Ireland game. "There's nothing I can do now, no more performances I can put before those matches, so it's just about enjoying the experience," he said. "It will give me a toe in the door and hopefully I will be able to show what kind of a player I am."

So what kind of player is that? In his own words: "A genuine allrounder who can offer something different. I want to be in a position to win games with bat or ball. I don't want people to say if Dwaine gets runs, we will be lucky. I want people to expect me to get runs and take wickets."

South Africa are still searching for a two-in-one player they can rely on regularly and Pretorius will be up against Wayne Parnell, Chris Morris and Phehlukwayo in trying to claim the spot. "Competition for the allrounder role is stiff but I think if I can get my batting solid, I can put some of those guys under pressure for their places," he said. "But at the same time, I am not focused on trying to be better than someone else but on trying to be my best."

For Pretorius, that means ensuring he puts himself in a position not just to play ODI cricket but to play Test cricket. "That would be the ultimate. Maybe if I can score 500 or 600 first-class runs in a season, I will come into contention for a Test spot," he said. And so, at 27, Pretorius finds his career is beginning again.