When you don't have pace, you need other skills to come to the party, says Vernon Philander
getty images
After playing the last international game in Johannesburg, the 33-year-old has advised youngsters not to focus only on pace and skill-set can overcome the lack of pace in one's arsenal. Philander has also added that South Africa's new management team has it in them to turn things around.
Philander had an ordinary start to his international career where he found himself mostly in the fringes and was considered as a white-ball specialist. But his resurgence as an international career started when he made his Test debut against Australia where he picked up 9 wickets to help South Africa trounce Australia in Cape Town.
The speedster found prodigious swing straightaway on the international circuit and that allowed him to become South Africa's trump card at home. Philander represented South Africa in 64 Tests, picking up a total of 224 wickets since making his debut in 2011.
"When you don't have pace, you need other skills to come to the party. Over the years, you learn the more consistent you can be, irrespective of what pace you bowl at, you will be effective. We just have to make sure we are not just worried about pace all the time. We need to make sure we are nipping the ball and that we can swing the ball because those are assets in the game that will make you a great bowler one day. We need to make sure we keep those skills alive."
The 32-year-old is optimistic about the changes that South Africa have brought in team management. The induction of greats like Mark Boucher ( Current SA Coach) and Jacques Kallis ( Batting consultant ) have bolstered their chances reaching to the summit but ordinary performances against England have again raised the questions.
"You always look for credibility wherever you go in life and whatever set-up you are in and we've got credible people running the system, with Boucher and Kallis, between the two of them, there's as many as Test cap as probably our whole team at the moment. It's a young team we've got to allow them time to find their feet," said Philander.
