Erwee bringing international experience back to Dolphins
Following a busy end to the last season that included two
tours with the Proteas, Sarel Erwee is hoping to bring back the experience that
he gained with the national side to the Hollywoodbets Dolphins for the upcoming
season.
Although there would have been a level of frustration that he didn’t get a cap for the national side on either of the tours, Erwee used the time constructively to try and better himself as a player for his return to the Dolphins.
“Being in that set-up after having been to Pakistan was an honour and I spent a lot of time picking the brains of the senior guys,” Erwee said.
“I was finding out how they go about preparing and how they go about their business, so I took a lot out of that tour and really enjoyed the camaraderie around the group.
“It was fantastic to experience that again and hopefully I can experience one or two more tours,” he added with a smile.
Heading into another big season of domestic cricket where the whole structure has changed, Erwee has pin-pointed a few areas that he wants to bring back to the domestic set-up going into the new campaign in a months’ time.
“The major thing is the intensity levels,” he explained. “I think we need to get local domestic players to train and prepare with that sort of intensity so that we can play at a higher intensity.
“If we can get the Dolphins as a whole to up the intensity a bit in terms of preparation, game time will be so much easier and pressure levels might not seem as high.”
Getting to that level of intensity is a process for Erwee and he feels that the Dolphins are on the right track and are making strides in key areas ahead of the new campaign.
“We’ve got a bit of a way to go in terms of preparation and I think all teams can be a little more specific.
“The team has made an effort to lift the intensity in our fielding so I think that we are getting there slowly so hopefully this season we can show the other sides the benchmark and produce results like we did last season.”
The Dolphins will begin their season with the CSA T20 Knock Out Competition and for Erwee it’s an exciting way to start the season.
“Starting the season with T20 cricket gets guys excited and gets them out there hitting balls.
“I know in the past it takes some time to get guys excited about the season because they start with the hard slog of four day cricket!
“It’s something fresh to start with T20 cricket and I know that the guys are ready to go and play some exciting cricket,” he added.
The Dolphins have been drawn in a group with Easterns, North West and the SA Under 19 side and will be based in Bloemfontein from 8-10 October for the group phase of the competition.
