Cape Town Samp Army’s batter, Matthew Breetzke, is focused on cashing in on the endless opportunities that will come with playing in the inaugural Zim Afro T10 starting on Thursday.
The Zim Afro T10 tournament is set to get underway on Thursday, with the Harare Hurricanes taking on the Bulawayo Braves in the Zimbabwean capital.
The likes of Sisanda Magala, Matthew Breetzke, Donovan Ferreira and Junior Dala, to name a few, are all set to feature in the tournament.
One of the main objectives of the tournament, as per founder Shaji Mulk, is to unearth and develop talent in the Southern African region.
One of South Africa’s talented youngsters, the Gqeberha-born Breetzke, is set to benefit greatly from a tournament of this magnitude.
With the Pakistan Super League owners actively involved in the Zim Afro T10, there will be a huge opportunity for the 24-year-old Breetzke to showcase his skills in front of the big fish of franchise cricket.
And if things go well, opportunities to play in the lucrative leagues like the PSL and the Indian Premier League will undoubtedly come forward.
Breetzke admitted to being aware of how big an opportunity he has in front of him with the Zim Afro T10 to elevate his career.
“I’d be lying if I said it wasn’t in the back of my mind. Success here can really set me up for bigger and better things,” Breetzke told IOL Sport.
“But right now, for me it’s about focusing on the Zim Afro T10 and I’m super grateful to be going to this tournament.” He added.
From a very young age, Breetzke’s talent always stood out. Be it at Provincial boys’ cricket or during his time in the South Africa U19 team — his talent was always up there with the best in the country.
Breetzke and Raynard van Tonder were one of the stars of the SA U19 class of 2018 but things have gone a little quiet after their first few seasons playing domestic cricket.
But all those years of not being centre of attention in domestic cricket have really given birth to a different kind of a batter, a run machine who finished last season’s 4-Day competition as the leading runs scorer with over 700 runs under his belt.
Breetzke carried that form to the inaugural SA20 earlier this year playing for the Durban Super Giants and made a name for himself as a beast as far as chasing down targets.
Lance Klusener, master of the run-chase himself in his playing days, coached the Super Giants in the SA20 and is now in charge of the Cape Town Samp Army in the Zim Afro T10.
Klusener has ensured that he secures the services of the young Breetzke having been impressed by the youngster’s abilities with bat in hand.
“Lance is giving me another opportunity having seen how I played in the SA20 in January and I’d like to carry those performances into this competition,” said Breetzke.
“I want to really put my hand up when the team needs me the most especially when we’re chasing, that’s what I really take pride in in white-ball cricket, helping my team chase down totals.
“I want to go to Zimbabwe and enjoy myself. That’s the mentality I’m going with.” He added.
It will be Breetzke’s first time playing T10 cricket, but the youngster has done his research and has an understanding of how this new format differs from T20 cricket.
“Usually in T20 cricket, you have about eight balls to get yourself in but here in T10 cricket you have a lot shorter time to get yourself in and start firing early on.” He concluded.
The Zim Afro T10 competition will run from Thursday 20th July to the 29th of July.
IOL Sport