Brushing up skills

Qeshile still open to captaincy in future

Dafabet Warriors batsman Sinethemba Qeshile has not ruled out a return to the role of T20 captain later down the line as he goes back to the drawing board during the off-season.

Qeshile, who took the reins of captaincy at the tender age of 22 ahead of the start of the 2020/2021 CSA T20 Challenge, enjoyed the position, leading the side in two tournaments played in Durban and Gqeberha in consecutive seasons.

Two years down the line, the former Hudson Park and Border age group skipper, who stepped down from the role ahead of the start of the 2022/2023 campaign, said relinquishing the armband was needed as he looked to focus on his game and find the missing piece of the puzzle.

The diminutive right-hander packs a mean punch when playing without shackles, but feels he needed to focus on grooming his technique with the aim of putting himself in the best possible position to make positive contributions.

“The decision to give up the captaincy came more from my side.

“I felt it had taken a lot of work from my side and I was starting to forget who I was as a cricketer.

“Since giving up the armband, I have had more time to focus on what I needed to do to get back to the best I can be.

“I think it has certainly helped me to focus on my own game, it has in some ways allowed me to just play freely and play with more confidence.

“Having said that, I would not rule it out in the future as I still enjoy being in a leadership role,” Qeshile said.

That lack of confidence, while not only down to the captaincy, was evident in his performances with the bat, as he scored a total of 95 and 64 runs respectively in the two tournaments he wore the armband.

Last season he did not fare any better, recording just 20 runs in four innings.

However, one can argue that most of the runs scored in the matches came either from the top-order batters or him walking in and having to play in an overly aggressive way, which often led to the loss of his wicket.

The signs of his change in fortune were noticeable during the remainder of the four-day season, as he notched up a century and a fifty in valuable knocks.

Qeshile was recently named in a 12-man SA Invitational side that will take on the Netherlands in a one-off encounter in Pretoria on Tuesday.

He is one of four Warriors to crack the nod alongside fellow right-hander Matthew Breetzke and left-handed openers Jordan Hermann and Wihan Lubbe.

Qeshile said the Warriors were not far off where they wanted to be as a unit, despite the youthful environment within their ranks.

“If you look back at the last two or three years, we have been showing consistency in the way we want to approach the game, with that aggression, and taking the game to the opposition, never backing away from the challenge, despite being a young, inexperienced side.

“We performed admirably, particularly in our red-ball outings, and while we did not do what we would have wanted to during the latter stages of the competition, we still came quite close in the end.”

“The next step now is to clear that final hurdle and secure some silverware,” he said.