Promising Olivier prepared to wait for more opportunities

Duanne Olivier was in debutants' heaven. He was picked to play his first Test at the Wanderers, as part of an all-pace pack, in a week when the sky was curtained in cloud, the air was heavy with moisture and the opposition would obviously have preferred to be somewhere else.

But then his captain won the toss and decided the bowlers would have to wait. And then his team-mates batted so well, they ensured the bowlers would have to wait even longer.

Olivier was in danger of doing nothing all day until eight balls before close on the opening day, when JP Duminy edged to second slip and a nightwatchman was needed. The team management decided it was a chance to get the new man in the game, even though it was something he had never done before.

"They (Faf du Plessis and Russell Domingo) asked if I wanted to do it. And I decided why not. It's an opportunity. It was scary because I don't even bat as high for the franchise but it was exciting," Olivier admitted.

Frustrated after a long day with scant reward, Lahiru Kumara bounced Olivier first-up. He ducked, and made a mental note to dish out some of the same treatment later. Olivier faced only three more balls that evening, including one that seamed and bounced and beat his outside edge, but finished his first day as an international fully satisfied. "I was nervous going out there, batting with a guy like Hashim but it was an unbelievable experience for me."

It was only midway through the following day that Olivier got to do what he had been picked for and then, the nerves came back. "My hands were sweating and I didn't think straight," he said, when asked to recall how he felt as he bowled his first ball, to open the 10th over: a 136kph length delivery on off stump. The bouncer followed, some late swing came, the yorker was attempted and then, the chance for his first Test wicket.

Kusal Mendis chipped a drive back to Olivier who jumped late and, despite going with both hands, could not hold on. "I was disappointed but it was only my own fault," he said. "But I knew there was a lot in the wicket so if I just bowled according to plans and did what Faf told me to do, I would get rewarded."

Olivier had to wait for his second spell before that happened, deep into the Sri Lankan innings, but it was worth it. A throat-high bouncer had Rangana Herath top-edging a pull and Stephen Cook's catch at short leg completed the job. Olivier was off the mark and he didn't want to stop.

He took one more wicket in that innings and three in Sri Lanka's second innings, with a noisy Wanderers crowd cheering him on. What's not to love? "When I play four-day cricket, there is no one watching but here, it feels like there are 20 million watching," he said. "It's intense, it's crazy, you need to concentrate, you need to be on the ball, you can't wander off and watch at the screen. The level is so much different to domestic cricket, you can't compare. At the end, their No. 8, 9 and 10 batsmen can bat. That's not to say our franchise players can't but you feel like you have a chance with franchise players."

Olivier quickly realised the step up to international cricket will demand a lot from him, especially as he tried to find a place as the third-seamer in South Africa's XI. They are looking for someone who can do a dual job of containing and attacking, for someone who can complement the seam movement of Vernon Philander and the pace of Kagiso Rabada. Someone who generates good bounce is an obvious choice and Olivier does that, but so does Morne Morkel. And there are other options like the left-arm angle of Wayne Parnell, which means Olivier is in a queue.

After a decent outing, he may have to wait again but, for now, he doesn't mind. "I know there are players coming back. If I get the opportunity to play again, of course I want to play. Who doesn't want to play for the country? But I do also understand they have been performing well for the last 10 years so I can't be like I must play. I am not too fazed. If I don't play it's not the end of the world for me. I will keep working hard at franchise level until I get another opportunity. I will get my opportunity and I will wait for it, whenever it comes."