Sarel Erwee, The Optimist.
After almost a year of carrying drinks as 12th man, Sarel Erwee scores a century in his second Test
“Sarel, hy is die sout van die aarde,” Andre Olivier says. Translated to English, Andre’s words say that Sarel is the salt of the earth.
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One of Sarel Erwee’s proudest moments was when he watched Andre Olivier make the 800m semi-finals at the 2012 London Olympics. Two years later, Sarel was prouder of Andre when he scooped a medal at the 2014 Commonwealth Games. He had tears in his eyes as he watched the medals ceremony.
Andre and Sarel have tried to be there for each other when the other did well in their sporting field.
“When he reached his 50 I was relieved. I smiled and punched the air,” says Andre Olivier who stayed up for most of the night to watch his friend play in his second Test match. “When he got to the 100, I think I woke up the whole neighbourhood.”
It was a very proud moment for Andre.
The Collegians Club was one of Sarel and Andre's favourite hangouts as kids. While their fathers enjoyed a beer or two, Sarel Erwee and Andre Olivier played on the grounds. The boys played touch rugby, soccer, hide and seek, and cricket… it was one huge playground for them. They enjoyed the place so much that sometimes they influenced their fathers to make the short drive there.
Sarel and Andre's fathers were keen sportspeople. They were very decent rugby players in their day. Both played for Natal Sharks back in the day. They were locals at the Collegians Club in Pietermaritzburg.
Sarel and Andre have been friends forever. Their fathers have been friends for as long as the boys have known. Their sisters have been friends from the moment they could sit. Like Sarel and Andre, their sisters were born within the same calendar year.
When Sarel and Andre were not running around, playing at the club, they spent a lot of time at each other's homes. They lived 3 km apart and that was not too long a distance for them to overcome daily. They spent most of that time together playing their version of international cricket which they played in front of the garage door. That was the best space at the Erwees' home.
“We were not allowed to play with cricket balls because of windows, so it was always with tennis balls,” says Andre.
And despite the balls being tennis balls, the boys always chose the biggest bat that they could find.
"We thought the bigger bat would hit the ball further," says Andre. "We also thought that the smaller bat was for girls."
The rules were simple, if you cleared the fence, it was a six and if you hit the ball directly into the bedding plants, you were caught out. The other rule was that before an innings, you had to nominate a bowler and a batsman whom you were going to play as.
“If you picked Paul Adams, you had to bowl like him,” says Andre. “If you were batting and picked Lance Klusenar, then you had to hit everything.”
More often than not, Andre chose Allan Donald when he was bowling. Every kid wanted to bowl with some gas. When Sarel wanted to really piss off Andre he picked Gary Kirsten as his man. He would defend all day long and force Andre to do his best Alan Donald impression for hours on end.
“Many times I would not be able to get him out, in the end, he would just retire and give me a go,” says Andre.
There was one thing that Andre was better than Sarel at. He was a better runner. Sarel hated it. He did not hate that Andre was better than him at running - the boys generally accepted that Sarel was a special cricketer and Andre was a better runner - he just hated the whole exercise.
“From a young age, my dad coached us athletics and cross country and it made Sarel miserable,” says Andre. “He could not stand the running.”
The only place that Sarel liked to run was at Bakers Mini Cricket.
“At Bakers Mini Cricket you get to hit the ball as far as you can,” says Sarel. “There were no boundaries, and you just ran to get as many runs as possible. I ran a lot of runs.”
Sarel Erwee preferred to field at gully during his younger years. And his teams were happy to let him field in that spot. It helped that he had the safest hands on the field, he didn’t drop a catch. He also had dry hands, he didn’t sweat a lot in his palms, and that meant that he was also the designated ball shiner. It also helped to have him at gully.
For opposition batters, that was a nightmare. After every delivery, he would saunter up to the crease, his floppy hat folded in an awkward fisherman’s hat style.
“He would purposely fold his hat or roll his hat to look like a fisherman,” says Kimeshin Chetty. Chetty played against Sarel when Sarel played first-team cricket for St. Charles High School. Chetty played for Westville High School.
The two also played against each other at Under-19. Sarel played Under-19 cricket for KZN Inland, while Chetty played for KZN Coastal. The two later played together for Coastal when Sarel switched from Inland to Coastal.
Sarel still folds his floppy hats in his awkward fisherman style. It is a habit that he has never outgrown. Now an accomplished fisherman, Sarel dons his floppy hat from the previous season when he goes fishing.
Anyway, with his awkwardly folded hat, Sarel would saunter to the crease, shining the ball and doing his best to make the batter uncomfortable. He would often have a word or two in the batter’s ear. Anything to unsettle the opposition.
“He is an imposing figure, a tall guy,” says Chetty. “Seeing him in your batting space irritates you.”
He was not above shouting to the change-room after the fall of an opposition wicket.
“One match I remember him shouting to the change-room, ‘Chets, come out we are waiting for you. Our fast bowlers are waiting to bowl to you and dismiss you,’” Chetty recalls.
He was not just good at dishing it, he was also good at taking it too. If anything, opposition bowlers preferred to not chirp him because he chirped back every now and then. And he had a way of using the sledges that opposition members flung his way as motivation.
“If a bowler chirped him or got into a verbal argument with him, he’d take that and he’d run with it,” says Chetty. “He would never let you forget it for the rest of the match.”
But Sarel’s biggest asset on the crease wasn’t his mouth. It was his presence. He has always been such a commanding presence at the crease. His presence and the mannerisms that he copied from his cricketing heroes made him a very difficult opponent to face.
“When I was a bit younger I would try to impose myself a bit like Matthew Hayden,” says Sarel. “I walk down the wicked, burly and puff my chest out and try to give the balls a whack.”
“In his early years, he was a flamboyant and very confident player, borderline arrogant,” says Shane Burger.
Burger played against Sarel Erwee, was his captain and later coached him.
He has come a long way from being this kind of player.
“I was a chirpy young cricketer and people didn't enjoy me, people didn't like me,” says Sarel Erwee. “I'm a different person now and I try to keep things a bit more relaxed. I still play hard cricket, I compete hard. You still talk about certain things on the cricket field, but I think sometimes I crossed the line when I was a bit younger, which I don't do anymore.”
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In 2012 Jason Roy’s father got in touch with Andrew Shedlock. Jason had just broken into the Surrey set up and his father felt that he would do well with some training from Andrew Shedlock. Shedlock and Craig Roy, Jason’s father, had played water polo together in the 1980s and early 90s. They had both represented Natal and South Africa.
That’s how Jason Roy ended up at Shedders Cricket Academy.
Shedlock, a qualified biomechanist, started coaching cricket by accident, but that is a story for another day.
On arrival, Roy immediately hit it off with Sarel Erwee, another cricketer at the Shedders Cricket Academy.
“We just started hanging out a lot,” says Jason Roy.
Sarel was making a comeback to cricket. He had stopped playing the year after his two years at the Dolphins Academy. In a huff, Sarel gave up on trying to make a career out of cricket after he had failed to break into the Dolphins’ side. He felt overlooked. He felt that he had done everything that was required of him, and yet he was not getting the opportunities that he felt he deserved.
“I did the right things, or I say I did the right things, but maybe I didn’t,” says Sarel. “The thing is, I didn’t get the opportunities, even in amateur cricket, that I wanted to get. So I kind of left cricket for a year.”
“He went away, almost fell out of love with the game,” says Shane Burger. “He had a bit of time away and probably realised that cricket is something that he didn’t want to let go of.”
“When he came to me he was at the age where many cricketers re-evaluate their priorities,” says Andrew Shedlock.
His newfound friendship with Jason Roy helped him fall in love with the game again. There is something about adversity, being in the trenches together, that strengthens bonds. Shedlock pushed the young men very hard. They did a lot of testing and demanding fitness drills that often pushed them beyond their endurance barriers.
Like army recruits, they urged each other to keep going and picked each other up when the other faltered. Their friendship, which had been conceived on a social level, deepened during training at Shedders Cricket Academy. Whenever they play cricket together, it is an act of brotherhood, not sport.
“We were young when we first met, so we had a lot of fun socially,” says Jason Roy. “But, as much fun as we had outside of training, we pushed hard in training.”
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Oom Sarel, Sarel Erwee’s father, does not show a lot of emotion. He is built like that. But, not even he could hide the pride in his voice when he spoke of Sarel’s maiden Test hundred. Sarel’s mother, on the other hand, is different. She was visibly happy and you could tell the elation from her voice.
The couple knows how much it means to Sarel.
“He has earned his stripes in many ways,” says Shane Burger. “Sarel has done the hard yards and scored buckets of runs in semi-pro and franchise cricket over the years.”
It is a vindication of all the sacrifices that Sarel made to reach this point. Semi-pro cricket is not glamourous. It’s hard work with little reward. For years he watched friends and peers either move up or move away from cricket and carve new careers. And he was stuck playing semi-pro cricket.
Just after he returned to cricket after his hiatus, David Miller came through with an amazing offer. Miller found himself in a situation that required him in two places at once. He was expected at Weybridge Cricket Club in the UK and at the Cricket South Africa National Academy. David Miller asked Sarel if he could go to Weybridge in his place instead.
What Sarel took up as a paid holiday after spending time at Shedders Cricket Academy and playing for DHS Old Boys’ Club turned out to be a life-changing experience.
“SJ found his game at Weybridge,” says Kimeshin Chetty.
Sarel scored a truckload of runs at Weybridge, he was a different player. He went on to spend four more South African winters, English summers, in the UK. His performances for Weybridge got him noticed by a couple of County Cricket sides.
“He knew exactly what he wanted. Nothing was going to stop him,” says Jason Roy. “He’s always been passionate about representing SA. Even when there may have been opportunities to head to the UK and try his hand over there in the County setup, Sarel was determined to stick it out, keep pushing and earn a spot in the Proteas side.”
However, despite being noticed by a couple of teams in the UK, Sarel was failing to make much headway back home. He went on to spend six years playing semi-pro cricket and only broke into the Dolphins side at the ripe age of 28.
Sarel Erwee has been something of a late bloomer in South African cricket. After outstanding high school and Under-19 careers, his career just seemed to stall.
“Part of the reason why he became a late bloomer might also be the time that he spent away from the game,” says Shane Burger.
It is not a bad thing that he is a late bloomer. It could be a superpower. According to Rich Karlgaard, author of the book, Late Bloomers: The Hidden Strengths of Learning and Succeeding at Your Own Pace, late bloomers tend to be more resilient than early bloomers, on average.
Resilience is not a passive quality, but an ongoing process of responding to adversity with concerted action. It is the quality that allows some people to get knocked down and come back stronger than ever.
Late bloomers are familiar with adversity, and through their long and winding careers, they acquire and develop tools and a perspective that helps them deal with adversity and move forward. Early bloomers, on the other hand, enjoy many advantages and their path is often a touch smoother. Early bloomers enjoy the advantages brought on by the Matthew Effect.
Also referred to as accumulated advantage, the Matthew Effect is where those who have more are given more opportunities to gain more and those that do not have status typically struggle to achieve more.
In the case of sports, an industry obsessed with early bloomers and prodigies, early bloomers and prodigies are given more opportunities and greater exposure than late developers and non-prodigies.
Karlgaard also suggests that late bloomers have more compassion, and as such, make better leaders and teammates.
“Sarel always went over and beyond for his teammates,” says Shane Burger. “He is a good motivator and will very rarely preach what he doesn’t do himself. I remember making him a captain and really seeing that leadership in him grow.”
Burger and Chetty spoke about Sarel’s confidence in his early years, which was borderline arrogance, as Shane Burger put it. It has fallen away as he has grown older. This is not to say he has grown less confident. He is still very confident in his abilities, however, he has tempered that confidence with humility.
“He has now found a certain humility,” says Burger.
It is a humility born from understanding and accepting that he has a lot more to learn and that there are others who can easily outplay him on any given day. He is now more grounded.
Being a late bloomer also helped Sarel to clean up his batting.
“When I went to England about eight years ago to one of my clubs, I started batting and they were like, ‘What are you doing trying to bet like Graeme Smith?’” Sarel Erwee laughs. “I was like, ‘Well I'm not really trying.’ I think it was all about the trigger and how I used to stand.”
If you were to look at him closely when he is batting, you might notice the little things he adopted from his childhood heroes; Ashwell Prince, Jacques Rudolph, Matthew Hayden, Mike Hussey, and Graeme Smith. But, despite all these influences, he has developed a style that is his. It has taken a little time for him to get here.
Sarel is in a good place right now.
This is what has been said by those close to him. Andre Olivier, Jason Roy, Kimeshin Chetty, Andrew Shedlock and a host of other friends, all say the same thing, though not using the same words. Sarel Erwee says the same too.
Age has a way of making people calmer. According to a study, people change their outlook on the world as they grow older. This change makes them calmer and appreciative of the present. This defines Sarel Erwee at the moment. But, age is not the only reason why Sarel is in a good place mentally.
Over the past two years or so, he has been working with a sports psychologist, Kirsten van Heerden. Van Heerden is not just a psychologist, she has also represented South Africa at the 2006 Commonwealth Games. She understands the pressures of high performance.
Sarel started seeing her just after he had contemplated quitting cricket.
“About 28 months ago, the thought of quitting cricket crossed my mind and I was a phone call away from doing so,” says Sarel.
According to Sarel, he reached a point where all the hard work he had put into his career over the years, ‘all the hard slogging he had to do at semi-pro and franchise level felt pointless and worthless.’
Sarel has received support from his parents and his girlfriend. That, and the work he has done with Kirsten van Heerden helped him get back on track.
“I don’t think that you can ever be a finished article when it comes to mental health,” says Sarel. “But as someone going through it, it is incredible what you learn about yourself and the little things that you can do to make things better. My path is now a touch smoother.”
Sarel hopes that many more cricketers will seek professional help.
"I chat to a lot of people, sportspeople, and I feel that they are holding a lot of things inside. And those things are holding them back from showing their full potential," Sarel says. "For me, things have become more satisfying, both on and off the cricket field because of the process that I am going through with Kirsten Van Heerden."
Kirsten van Heerden describes Sarel as ‘a really lovely guy and so down to earth.’
Sarel also tries to make the path of those around him smoother. He takes responsibility for his surroundings. Grant Morgan taught him this. Grant Morgan preceded Shane Burger as KZN Inland coach.
One of the people that Sarel has done that for is Eathan Bosch. Sarel took the young bowler under his wing from the day he stepped into the Dolphins dressing room about five years ago.
“He has always tried to help me,” says Eathan. “We have grown a friendship that goes beyond the cricket field. He is so easy and approachable, which made it very easy for me. I really appreciate it a lot that he has been there for a large part of my career.”
Resilience, determination and the hunger to get better. These are the things that Eathan Bosch points to when I ask him what he has learnt from his mentor and friend. The ability to switch off when away from the game is another thing that Sarel Erwee learned from working with Kirsten van Heerden.
Erwee simply sees himself as an optimist.
“I am an optimist,” says Sarel. "I try to stay optimistic that things will come right and keep doing the right things, the things that you have done in the past. And allowing that to take care of the process. I am process-driven, it's not just about the end result. So every day is about getting two or 3% better, and the only way you can do that is by being optimistic. Trust the process that got you to where you are now. Keep doing the right things, and you will come right."
Besides being an optimistic player, he is more patient now. Patient with himself, patient with the game and patient with his teammates. He doesn't rush things and doesn't expect things to happen quickly. He lets life and the game come to him.
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