Dewald Brevis is the hottest young property in the MI Cape Town stable.
Entire marketing campaigns are dedicated to the 20-year-old, and it is all based on his incredible talent and immense potential. But at some juncture all this needs to be translated into the currency of runs.
Nobody knows this more than Brevis and not many are more disappointed than the top-order batter himself with his limited return thus far in the second season of the SA20.
Brevis has managed double figures just once in five innings with his latest disappointment being a first-ball duck in the Cape derby against the Paarl Royals at Boland Park on Sunday.
It has raised the question of whether Brevis should be rested for a couple of matches in the hope that he goes away and clears his mind before returning with greater clarity about how he is going to attain some success.
But his MI Cape Town coach Robin Peterson wants to hear no such talk and backs the youngster to the hilt, especially after watching Brevis take Major League Cricket (MLC) in the US by storm last year.
Brevis played two hugely influential innings in the lead up to the MLC final, which MI New York won under Peterson’s astute coaching.
“Brevis is a quality player,” Peterson said.
“In the MLC tournament in the US … I know Nicholas Pooran got a big hundred in the final but we won that tournament on the back of his (Brevis’) bat.
“He is capable of winning franchise tournaments. Of course, we back him because we know what he is capable of.”
Brevis certainly came into the SA20 in superb form, having struck backto-back centuries for the Titans in CSA’s Division 1 first-class competition. Peterson is hoping his prodigy rediscovers his form in tonight’s crucial encounter against Durban’s Super Giants with both teams still smarting from derby defeats over the weekend.
“We know Brevis is not having the tournament he would have liked, but he is probably just a couple of boundaries away from feeling good about himself.
“Hopefully he times his run when the big games come around. He is a quality player. He is a match-winner. We believe in him and that’s the most important thing.”
Newlands may also get the first up close view of MI Cape Town’s new Sri Lanka signing Nuwan Thushara. Peterson handed the seam bowler a SA20 debut at Paarl on Sunday and was suitably impressed with his new acquisition.
“It is important to switch things around with the ball,” he said. “We brought in Thushara because we needed to see what he was about in terms of the back end of the competition.”
MI Cape Town currently have nine points from five matches, which includes three defeats already. They can certainly not afford to lose any further ground on the pacesetters and will be aiming for a victory over the Super Giants at Newlands tonight (5.30pm start) that would leave them level on 13 points with league leaders the Paarl Royals.
@ZaahierAdams