Mangaliso has a tough task to dislodge De Kock

22 January 2017 - 02:00 By KHANYISO TSHWAKU
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The unfortunate part of having your career coincide with that of a potential great means you'll forever live in the person's shadow, if not become a mere footnote in history.

Highveld Lions and temporary Proteas Twenty20 wicketkeeper Mangaliso Mosehle knows this all too well with Quinton de Kock being the incumbent gloveman in all formats for the foreseeable future.

That is how the hapless Victorian Darren Berry and New South Wales' Phil Emery and a host of other quality Australian stumpers felt when Ian Healy and Adam Gilchrist owned the Australian wicketkeeping gloves from 1988 to 2008.

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Combined, the Queenslander and the converted Western Australian played 215 tests with only one missed, in 1994 in Lahore when Healy broke a finger. It was Emery's only test.

Closer to home, once Mark Boucher took hold of the gloves in 1998 after David Richardson's retirement, that signalled the end for any other keeper who harboured international aspirations.

Mosehle may partially be saved by the relentless international schedule that requires De Kock to rest. The 26-year-old acknowledged that being a keeper is a case of being in the right place at the right time.

"You have no idea how much of a role luck plays in cricket because it's such an unpredictable game. You get scenarios where one player gets injured, the other one gets an opportunity and they don't look back. Things can change in the blink of an eye.

We have to be fair to Quinton because he's taken his opportunity and he also happened to be at the right place at the right time. He's been one of the best performers in the South African team, which makes it difficult for other wicketkeepers to remove him. At the end of the day, he's a world-class keeper and an even better batsman," Mosehle said.

"You do want to play but having someone of Quinton's excellence makes you realise what you need to work on and what's required to get better. I just need to work on my game and control what I can control and whatever happens outside that realm happens for itself.

I've got no control on selection and how things pan out. I need the best possible opportunity to prepare and let the fates deal with what happens on the day."

The Duduza-born wicketkeeper was once touted by former under-19 coach Ray Jennings as one to watch.

Through the course of his 80-match first-class career that started against Griquas (now Northern Cape) in Benoni in 2008, there's always been signs of brilliance interspersed with an inability to find consistency.

There's also been the frustration of having to compete with Heino Kuhn, who relinquished the gloves to focus on batting.

Then there was De Kock's move across the Jukskei River at a time when he was surplus to Proteas requirements.

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Mosehle's response to this was an electric and telling 39-ball 87 in the 2015/16 Cricket SA Franchise T20 Challenge Final which saw the Titans easily hunt down an imposing 160 set by the Kevin Pietersen-inspired Dolphins.

It's that kind of flash-in-the-pan reputation he wants to eradicate from his cricket, especially after his T20 debut at his old stomping ground on Friday and the belligerent maiden franchise hundred he carved against the Titans in Benoni last week.

However, he doesn't want to lose the joie de vivre in his game that he says marks him out as a West Indian South African.

"People that know me say I'm an expressive person and that filters into my cricket. I love this game and I couldn't have chosen a better career, so I always try to enjoy every moment and every opportunity and use it to express myself. The way I play is just an extension of my personality," Mosehle said.

"Muhammad Ali once said black people are very colourful and it's in our nature to be creative and light up the spaces in which we operate.

"At the end of the day, most of my heroes are West Indian cricketers and when I got my call-up, Darren Sammy was one of the first guys to congratulate me."

sports@timesmedia.co.za

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