South African top order batter Rilee Rossouw, one of only 20 men to have scored over 10,000 runs in Twenty20 cricket, has joined the Desert Vipers as a replacement for the injured Chris Green in the ExxonMobil Guyana Global Super League (GSL).
Rossouw steps into the squad in the wake of Green suffering a hand injury during a stint playing county cricket in England and he brings a wealth of experience and quality with him.
The left-hander has represented South Africa in 36 One-Day Internationals and 29 Twenty20 Internationals, scoring five white-ball hundreds for the Proteas.
But as significant as Rossouw’s international pedigree is his vast body of work in franchise cricket all around the world including in the Caribbean Premier League (CPL), South Africa’s SA20, the Bangladesh Premier League, the Sri Lanka Premier League, the Indian Premier League, the T20 Blast and The Hundred in the UK, the Pakistan Super League (PSL), Major League Cricket (MLC) in the United States of America and the Big Bash League in Australia.
With that background, the player is well-qualified to pass judgement on what it takes for any franchise side to come together and gel quickly and he gave his views to the Vipers Voices podcast after arriving in the USA for another round of MLC, with the Texas SuperKings.
“Because of the modern-day age in which we play the game, you have to open yourself up to a little bit of vulnerability from other players around you,” he said. “That is the quickest way for people to get to know you. I think that is one thing where I feel a coach like Stephen Fleming does superbly well.
“He gets the guys to gel really, really quickly with certain little exercises that he does with the guys. It really opens you up for people to get to know you. That is how you are supposed to do things now in the modern-day age of gelling with each other, because there are no more big rivalries anymore.
“You cannot abuse a guy because maybe next week you are playing with that guy. Yes, there is obviously competition on the cricket field, but I feel like things have changed with the modern game, where you have to be mates with the guys, if that makes sense.”
That need to gel quickly is significant because the Vipers players are due to arrive in Guyana on 20 July, just four days before the side’s opening match of the Global Super League, against Lahore Qalanders.
And Rossouw said he expected the process of the squad getting to know each other to be a smooth one from his perspective.
“There are a lot of guys that I probably do know that I am going to get along well with at the Vipers,” he said.
“I feel like my personality when it comes to that is pretty easy-going. I am a pretty relaxed person, so that also does help in that situation. It is a quick turnaround, but I am pretty sure it will be easy.”
Rossouw was a late hire for the Desert Vipers, and he said his long-time connection with Vipers Director of Cricket Tom Moody was the key to his recruitment.
“Myself and Tom Moody really go way back,” he said. “So, out of the blue, Tom just messaged me and asked me if I was keen to come to the Desert Vipers.
“Obviously, any franchise with him involved is a successful one. So, I was very happy and I told him I was very interested to be joining.”
The 36-year-old said he felt in good touch, after a successful season in the PSL with the Quetta Gladiators in which he topped that side’s run aggregates by scoring 317 runs at a strike rate of over 140, including four half-centuries.
“I was coming off an injury from the SA20, where I also thought I was in good nick,” he said. “I am always a little bit sceptical coming back into a tournament after an injury, but I went through that (PSL) tournament fairly well and did score some runs for the team.
“At the end of the day, you want to win trophies and it was a bit unfortunate we did not. But yes, I am very pleased with where I am this year with my cricket and how well I am striking the ball. And I am just really looking to stay on top of it.”
Prior Caribbean experience could well be crucial in shaping success or failure for sides in the GSL and Rossouw, having previously lined up in the CPL, said he knew what to expect from conditions.
“Conditions are definitely different,” he said. “There are some places in the Caribbean that are very nice to bat on, but in Guyana it is probably a bit of a different story. The ball is turning and it keeps low and it is slow.
“So, we are going to have to adapt to conditions when it comes to that. Hopefully, we have some good cricket that is being played. I am pretty sure there will be.”
