Letting Go of A Dream
On Heinrich Klaasen's Test retirement
Retirements hit people differently.
AB de Villiers’ retirement was met with a universal meltdown. It was in the same realm as Michael Jordan’s 1993 retirement. No one understood why. Yes, de Villiers spoke of his reasons, people with more knowledge added insights to the issue to create a wholesome picture. But, it wasn’t good enough. A player who inspired a generation was walking away while he was at the peak of his powers.
There was a sigh of relief among certain quarters when Hashim Amla retired. Not because they didn’t like him, but because he salvaged what was left of his reputation as one of the greats. From early 2017 to his retirement, Amla’s average plummeted from 49.77 to 46.64 when he retired in February 2019. He was a shadow of his mercurial self, something was wrong, and many of us just didn’t know what it was.
Then there is the expected retirement, one that people can see coming from a mile away. Those are retirements that give you time to brace yourself for them. I was a huge fan of JP Duminy. I rated him highly, despite it being said that he never quite lived up to his early potential by some. When his retirement came, I was ready. It didn’t hurt.
Heinrich Klaasen’s retirement from Test cricket hits me differently. Klaasen isn’t as decorated as the other players that I have mentioned above. He played only four Tests between 2019 and 2023. And even then, he did not shoot the lights out, he averaged 13. It’s weird to say this about a 32-year-old, but his Test career died in infancy.
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Klaasen had dreams of playing Test cricket from the time when he was a seven-year-old owner of Hansie Cronje County bat. That is the dream he held on to as he made his way through the ranks. “It's a format I enjoy the most, to be honest. It's a hard format to play in but I enjoy the challenges that it brings and the mental side of all those things,” he told me once.
He could have made a debut earlier than 28, but Quinton de Kock was so unmovable from wicketkeeper/batter spot in the Test side that Klaasen and Dane Vilas were relegated to competing for the SA A spot for years. De Kock was so in love with cricket, red-ball cricket, that he played through injuries.
But, that didn’t dampen Klaasen’s fire. Test cricket was the pinnacle for him and he pushed himself to realise the dream of playing the in format. “I remember when I was captain of the Titans for the 4-day stuff, but I only got there after day one Tea time because I was in the T20 squad or the one-day stuff,” says Klaasen.
He has numerous stories of moments like this. Stories of arriving midway through day one or later, and having to quickly figure out what was happening on the field and how everyone was bowling before taking control. A teammate collected his whites and gear from his home and kept them in the changing room for him.
Klaasen also had limited time to train for four-day cricket with the rest of the Titans team because he was almost always away with the Proteas on white-ball tours. But, he gave it his all because he was holding on to a dream.
In February 2023 it looked like the hard yards had finally paid off. Shukri Conrad told reporters during a press conference that he preferred Klaasen over Kyle Verreynne with the gloves because Klaasen was the better batter. Finally, he could maybe play up to 10 Tests under his belt, maybe he could score a Test 50 or 100.
But, that was not to be, 11 months later, he is walking away from Test cricket. Word on the street is that Conrad told him that he isn’t in his long-term plans. Conrad wants to build a team that will compete for the World Test Championship in a couple of years or so, and at 32, Klaasen is deemed a little old.
Klaasen’s retirement from Test cricket hits me differently because I am watching someone give up on a dream, not because they want to, but because of circumstances beyond their control. It hits me hard because I have been there. I gave up a dream because circumstances made it impossible to pursue. You die a little inside when you do so.
“My Test baggy is the most precious cap I have ever been handed,” Klaasen wrote in his press statement. Now he can frame the baggy. It will forever be a reminder that though his Test career did not pan out as he hoped, he gave it his all in unique circumstances. Mostly with the odds stacked against him.
It’s SA20 time. How about getting acquainted with some of the rookies in the tournament:
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Thanks for reading. Until next time… - CS