A NEW SWD Cricket hero has emerged from Oudtshoorn, and he might just replace the Captain America of the movies that everyone knows and loves.
Six Gun Grill South Western Districts’ new bowling hero, Herschell America, turned plenty of heads as he rose to the summit of the wicket takers’ chart after the completion of Pool A of the Cricket South Africa T20 knock-out competition which kicked off in Kimberley the past weekend.
The SWD team took on the Northern Cape Heat on Friday (24 September); Western Province on Saturday (25 September) and the Imperial Lions on Sunday (26 September). The Lions were the only team that could beat the men from the SWD.
America was one of the SWD heroes who as the underdogs from the Southern Cape topped Pool A and will now advance to the knock-out stages of the competition. The 27-year old America hails from Bridgton. Other bowlers who have made their mark as professional cricket players, and come from the same upbringing, are Gurshwin Rabie, Marcello Piedt,
Glenton Stuurman, Francois Plaatjies and Otneill Baartman.
America was dubbed “Captain America” by former Protea bowling icon Makhaya Ntini whilst the latter was doing television commentary in Kimberley over the weekend. He has had a very different rise as a professional cricket player.
He never represented SWD at schools’ level or made the cut for the SWD Elite Academy intake, but rather climbed the ladder via the club system while playing for Oudtshoorn’s Union Stars cricketclub.
In 2017 America started to make an impact on the club scene thanks to guidance and encouragement from his mentor and teammate, Marcello Piedt. Soon thereafter the then SWD coach, Baakier Abrahams, invited him to the SWD practices as a net bowler. The rest, as they say, is history and in the 2017/18 season America made his debut for the SWD where he played 13 First Class and 20 List A matches. With seven wickets taken throughout the weekend’s matches, he is the most successful bowler in the T20 competition, even though this was his first shot at the T20 format of the game.
America says, like many successful sportsmen, he reached certain turning points in his career. The most significant, he says, is a hard discussion Baakier Abrahams had with him in April 2020. From there his career went in a different direction.
“That discussion changed my mind about my approach to cricket and brought me back on track after I was at a stage where I took everything for granted,” he admitted. Besides fellow SWD player, Marcello Piedt who America is now keeping out of the starting eleven, he admired the role of his grandmother Henrika Daniels in his cricket career.
Oudtshoorn’s ‘Captain America’
Herschell America. (Photo supplied)