Proteas fast bowler Gerald Coetzee.
Image: BackpagePix
There is a unique cruelty to being a fast bowler. The human body was simply not designed to sprint, leap, contort, and hurl a leather ball at speeds exceeding 145 km/h.
For Proteas paceman Gerald Coetzee, the sheer biomechanical violence of his trade has plagued him throughout his international career.
Coetzee has had almost everything in his body break at some point. From pectoral muscles, side strains, pelvic inflammation, and a bruised heel, the 25-year-old has had them all.
All these injuries have placed a promising career on hold regularly. The comeback trail has not only been a gruelling test of patience and physical resilience, but also one of intense mental fortitude.
It’s for this reason that Coetzee celebrates each international wicket with gusto - like he did during latest comeback in the first T20I against New Zealand at the Bay Oval.
He only bowled three overs, but it was enough to understand why the Proteas are eager to keep hoping that Coetzee can put a string of matches together. He swung the ball at high pace, rushing Devon Conway for his first wicket, before crashing into Tom Latham’s pads with a vicious in-swinger.
“I was very excited but also just very happy to be back. I really made a point to try and enjoy it,” Coetzee said ahead of Tuesday’s second T20I in Hamilton.
“I think anyone who gets injured and then having to work their way back is always hard and I think I had recurring injuries, which is very difficult, but I wouldn't change it for anything.
“You always learn something, you always get a bit better and it always means so much when you get back here. So yeah, it has been challenging, but it's also been, you know, it's been a blessed time.”
It’s clear that Coetzee’s time away from the national team hasn’t dampened it - it's only fired it up even more. He will need that passion and more if he hopes to become a regular in the Proteas’ starting XI again.
The Proteas are blessed with an abundance of fast bowling riches with Kagiso Rabada, Lungi Ngidi and Marco Jansen the incumbents at the recent T20 World Cup. Anrich Nortje has also returned to the international fold and provided the back-up in India.
Young Kwena Maphaka is waiting in the wings, while newbie Nqobani Mokoena impressed on debut at the Bay Oval and will now also form part of the conversations moving forward.
Having been grounded before when aiming for the stars, Coetzee is not rushing his progress and has adopted a pragmatic approach to running out in the green-and-gold again.
"I think South African cricket's in a very healthy place and I think we've got a really great pool of players,” he said.
"So, where I'm in the pecking order, I don't really know. That’s actually an interesting question.
“I'm playing now, which is great, and I think that'll be my focus - just to play where I can to do my best."
Equally, he feels that it's not a particular aspect of his game that will provide him with the edge, but rather working consistently hard at all aspects will bear fruit in the long run.
"You can always get better at something," Coetzee said. "There's not one specific thing. So yeah, I think all facets, you always try and get better and use every opportunity you get."