Rodders' Blog: South Africa, safari and pre-season
19 March 2015
In the latest of our player blogs 'keeper/batsman Gareth Roderick fills us in on his winter back home in his native South Africa.
I headed back to South Africa at the end of November and began my trip home by going to the Drakensburg mountain range for a couple of weeks.
I was staying in a little house in the mountains with my family and it was great to spend some time with them as well as doing some hiking and swimming in the natural springs there.
After that we went back home to Durban where I met up with a few Hampshire lads; Tom Allsop, Lewis McManus and Kent’s David Griffiths who were all out there playing club cricket. Dale Benkenstein (Hants first team coach) is also batting coach of the Sunfoil Dolpins First Class side who are based in Durban.
While I was home I played seven games for my club Topham CC, two before Christmas and the rest after. There was a bit more pressure on me to perform having the tag of an “overseas pro” – they look to you to score all the runs and win games. They also look to you to help improve the individuals in the team.
I went ok, making three scores of over 50 but it was hard work as the pitches weren’t great. The upside was that it was good practice as it mirrored what pitches might be like in early season here.
Jack Taylor arrived on New Year’s Eve and we threw a little party to welcome him to the country - a traditional South African brai (barbecue) and a few drinks.
He was an awesome house guest to be fair, the whole family enjoyed having him around. My dad particularly loved him as Jack bought beers home for him all the time.
While he was there I showed him around, we went to the beach quite often and played a few rounds of golf – which Jack just edged. In the last week we went up to the Tala Game Reserve where we saw lots of animals including rhino, giraffe, antelope and warthog.
I found out about Daws’ appointment while I was away. When the news broke the lads were all excited and full of optimism as they enjoyed working with him when he was here before.
Coming back into training you just notice a subtle change, there is a lot more energy from both coaches and players. The sessions are sharper and more intense and everyone is pulling on the same direction.
I am also excited to have Geraint Jones here. He is someone who has played at a level where a lot of the guys want to get to. Being able to talk to him about things like how he combined being a top order batter with keeping wicket have been really useful.
The only negative thing for me so far is that I cut my hand during catching practice and missed a golf weekend at the Belfry that the boys had arranged. The good news is that it is healing well and I should be back before the season starts.
The mood in the camp is good and we are hoping to hit the ground running.
Gareth Roderick is sponsored by Crowe Clark Whitehill for the 2015 season.
