Two deliveries from Lutho Sipamla
Thank you for reading 438 & Beyond. If you like what you read, please click the button below, join the mailing list for FREE, and share on social media, through e-mail, or however you feel comfortable sharing.
Please consider becoming a Patron or buying a coffee to support this project and keep things going.
Lutho Sipamla does not think too much when he is at the top of his mark. Keep the ball out of the arc, and land it in the good areas. That is what has worked for him.
Between 2014 and 2016, Sipamla took 137 wickets at 11.6 and conceded at an economy of just over four runs an over. Granted, it was only schoolboy cricket, but his line and length were so good no other schoolboy bowler came close to his numbers.
“He was so consistent and accurate in hitting that top-of-off length that batters either couldn't score or nicked it,” Richard Gilbert, Sipamla’s coach at Grey High shared.
Coach and player have remained in touch years after Sipamla left the learning institution. Both share a fond memory of the Lions seamer delivering an outstanding spell to help his side defend what looked like an indefensible total at the innings break. Grey High had capitulated for 113 against Kingswood. Sipamla opened the bowling, stuck to his line and length, and conceded only 17 runs in nine overs, bagging a three-wicket haul to help his side secure the win.
“His stats are still in the top three in terms of strike rate and average over the last 10 years at Grey,” Gilbert shared.
Sometimes, Sipamla finds encouragement from that memory from 2015. However, that was the last thing on his mind as he stood on the top of his mark, ready to run in to deliver the seventh ball of his four-over spell on Sunday 27 October 2024.
Sipamla pitched it up in the channel on the line of off-stump, asking the batter to drive. Bjorn Fortuin, his captain, had fielders in the ring on the offside for that stroke. Rivaldo Moonsamy obliged and only managed to edge the ball to give Connor Esterhuizen an easy catch behind the stumps.
This was his second wicket of the match, his team’s fourth. The DP World Lions had their tails up, the Multiply Titans were floundering on 34/4 after 6.1 overs. The Lions were on the front foot, but this was T20 cricket, things could change in an instant. So, Sipamla shelved the stats at the back of his mind. He needed to focus on the next ball.
“I just try to stay in the present,” Sipamla shared.
Sipamla came into the 2024-25 season after a difficult year. The pacer experienced discomfort when SA A was preparing for their second match against Sri Lanka A in 2023. He immediately underwent an MRI scan that revealed no stress fracture. However, further assessment revealed he was suffering from a lower back spasm. The injury kept him out of action for three-quarters of the season.
The injury was one of a few that kept him out of action between 2022 and 2023. Sipamla found himself spending more time in rehab than on the park. It was frustrating. This is not how the Grade 11 version of him pictured his future.
Sipamla was first introduced to cricket by his father when he was eight. Despite never having played a single game, Sipamla’s father was an avid watcher of the game. Everyone in the Sipamla household knew that when cricket was on TV, that’s all they watched.
“I always loved the game, but it was only after I went to Khaya Majola that I decided that I wanted to be a professional cricketer,” Sipamla shared.
Sipamla appeared on the international scene as a promising seamer for the Proteas barely five years later. That was followed by a move to the highveld, where he ensured that he was a staple in the SA A side. However, his progress was hampered by niggles and injuries over the past couple of years.
"This preseason was an important one for me," Sipamla shared.
The saying goes: everyone loves a good busker because their music creates a wonderful ambience. However, for the busker to keep busking, someone needs to put some money into the hat.
I am a busker and this is my hat:
Two days before the CSA T20 Challenge final, Sipamla was in the nets following the same routine he has had since his return from injury. On a regular day, the seamer is among the first people to arrive at the nets. He bowls a spell to the bowlers before heading to do target bowling practice in an empty net. Often, the only person there with him is Allan Donald.
“I try to learn as much as I can from him. He has taught me a lot since he joined the Lions. In the nets, he gives me a target to achieve and steps back to monitor while I go about my business. He always steps in with a word or two when he sees something that needs improvement,” Sipamla shared.
His attitude to learning has been consistent since his Grey High days, and this is why Gilbert describes him as ‘a coachable player.’ The length of his target bowling sessions vary from 25 to 55 minutes. The 20 to 30-minute slot is during those days when his body doesn’t feel great.
“I focus on the basics and try to execute as quickly as I can when I don’t feel great. However, when I am feeling great, I go for anything between 40 to 55 minutes,” Sipamla explained.
One of the deliveries Sipamla focused on a lot during his sessions was his stock delivery, the ball that targets the top of the off-stump. After he dismissed Moonsamy, that is the one he decided to employ when Donovan Ferreira took guard.
It felt as if he was doing target practice. Nothing besides him and the stumps existed. He landed the ball on the same length he had hit thousands of times in practice. Ferreira went onto his back foot to block the ball, but he had misjudged the line and it pierced the space between bat and pad to cannon onto the stumps.
“I think that was my best delivery in the match,” Sipamla said.
The wicket determined the match. It left the Titans floundering on 34/5. That was his third wicket of the match. He finished his four-over spell with a career-best 4/12 in four overs. The figures were also the best bowling figures in a domestic T20 final. The figures make for good reading, however, Sipamla being Sipamla, he was quick to point out that they mean more because they helped his team win the title.
“Your performance had to contribute to victory. Good stats in a losing cause do not help anyone. I was taught and always believed in prioritising the team. At the end of the day, cricket is a team sport played by individuals,” he explained.
As Rich Gilbert shared, Lutho Sipamla is ‘a fantastic team man.’