Chris Morris (again) reassures he won’t be tempted by a Kolpak
Instead, the Proteas all-rounder is more concerned about how the bowlers will keep things in check on Eden Park's short straight boundaries.
Chris Morris won’t quite be bowling like this anymore. Photo: Anesh Debiky/Gallo Images.
For some weird reason, Chris Morris continues to pop up as an “ideal” candidate to become South Africa’s latest Kolpak mercenary.
At the height of last month’s drama regarding Kyle Abbott and Rilee Rossouw’s retirements from international cricket, the Proteas all-rounder’s name was regularly speculated to follow suit.
But the genial 29-year-old on Wednesday gave the assurance once again that he’s fully committed to South African cricket.
Also read: Danger! Proteas warned of SA-born Kiwi rookie
“It’s something you’ve got accept as a player and a team,” said Morris.
“It’s going to happen. All that matters is how the parties who are left behind deal with it. If a player wants to side a Kolpak it’s really his prerogative. We’re not going to judge someone on it. I’m committed and the team is committed. We’ve moved on from the Kolpak saga.”
Lucrative overseas contracts, in fact, has been the furthest from Morris’ mind the past few months.
He’s had to recover from a knee injury that he was carrying for eight months before finally deciding to give himself a rest to recover fully.
In that off-time, Morris has also been hard at work on his own game.
“I’ve done a lot of work on my action in particular,” he said.
“Consistency has been an issue for me in the past. I really want to eliminate the boundary balls I concede. It’s all about keeping straight lines.”
Morris’ focus on turning off the run taps is especially relevant given the Proteas’ solitary T20 against New Zealand in Auckland on Friday.
Also read: The Proteas will be sick of Hamilton after their NZ tour
The venue, Eden Park, is a multi-purpose stadium perhaps better known for hosting rugby matches.
As a result, the dimensions of the field are a bit unbalanced.
For example, the straight boundaries are only 55m long – far too short in the modern era of T20 cricket actually.
“It was a bit of a shock to my system when I got here to see the straight boundaries,” admitted Morris.
“Every stadium has its own dynamics that we have to get used to so we will put the training to try and hit certain areas. It does change it a little bit but you have to adapt to every field that you play on.”
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