Dwaine Pretorius declines Kolpak Deal and commits future to South Africa cricket
South African all-rounder Dwaine Pretorius has reportedly discarded a move to Nottinghamshire which was a Kolpak Deal and has committed his future to South African cricket. Pretorius was not a regular member of the Proteas in any of the three formats and looked all set to find a new home in the United Kingdom. But after the change in Cricket South Africa's administration, a new national contract was negotiated and Pretorius was happy to play for the Proteas.
Pretorius has featured very few times for South Africa, playing only 22 ODIs since his debut back in October 2016 versus Ireland and featuring in only six T20s. A pay-cut in his initial contract would have seen him join Kyle Abbott, Rilee Rossouw and Duanne Olivier who themselves left their international career halfway in order to go and play in the United Kingdom by signing the Kolpak deal.
Former South African skipper and interim Director of Cricket Graeme Smith, however, convinced Pretorius to continue playing for South Africa. Smith has been involved in a number of player contract negotiations next week and will be looking to bring CSA back on track.
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Pretorius managed to grab a bit of the spotlight with his patient batting and aggressive bowling on his debut in the first Test of the ongoing series versus England at home. With Vernon Philander almost at the end of his international career, if Pretorius could thrive in the role of a bowling all-rounder that South Africa so desperately need, it will make a very huge difference to the balance of the team and will give the Proteas the luxury to play an extra bowler in order to grab 20 wickets and win Test matches.