FEATURE: "I KNOW I PLAY FOR MY FAMILY," SAYS OTTNEIL BAARTMAN

Ottneil Baartman stares into the camera.

His voice starts to tremble. His eyes are glazed. He rubs his hands together vigorously.

This is not the confidence-filled Baartman that we’ve got to know over the past two Betway SA20 seasons.

Where is the bowler that thrives in the pressure zone of delivering inch-perfect yorkers at the death?

The bowler that has claimed 30 wickets - the most by anyone since SA20 exploded onto the South African cricket calendar.

He is still there. On the inside. Somewhere.

But this is Baartman raw. Exposing his deepest trauma. Baring his soul.

Fighting back the tears in his attempt to make sense of how his stout-hearted single mother of two battled the daily struggles of South African low-income life to ensure he and his sister closed their eyes at night with at least something in their stomachs.

“My mother was a mother and father. I never had a father figure. I met my father, but he was never around,” Baartman said.

“To raise me with nothing, and for me to be here, means the world to me. If it wasn't for her, I would not be here.

“That's massive for me. Still with nothing, she makes it work. I can't help but get emotional, but to raise two kids the way she did was exceptional. The biggest thing for me for now is that I know I play for my family.”

Without any form of male figure to show reverence towards within the back entrance the Baartman family lived in until he received his first professional contract from the Free State Cricket Union meant he was forced to seek guidance outside.

And in the community that Baartman hails from in Oudtshoorn, that could easily have taken the form of someone looking to lead a vulnerable young man astray.

Fortunately, he gravitated towards the local Bridgton Sports Ground where his cousin Douglas Baartman was a stalwart performer for Union Stars Cricket Club.

The absence of top-level domestic cricket - let alone international cricket - played in Oudtshoorn and coupled with the Baartmans not being able to afford a television until he was in his teens, the weekly trip to watch Douglas fast became the highlight of Ottniel’s childhood.

It is here where Baartman watched every ball meticulously. He studied the actions. The line and lengths delivered.

All with the sole purpose of repeating it during the coming week when he met up with his friends after school for their daily One-Day Internationals played out on the tar of “10de Laan” (10th Avenue).

“My friends also need to get credit for my selection (to the Proteas). When I was still at school, we would play cricket in the streets every day. That's where the hunger started,” he said.

“My cousin also played club cricket and I always went along to watch club cricket. And I wanted to be like him.” 

For many within the Oudtshoorn area being a First Division club cricketer would be regarded as a success. The notion of actually being able to forge a living wage out of the game as a professional was a mere pipedream.

But this was a glass ceiling Baartman was determined to shatter. And he knew the only way to achieve the near impossible meant that he needed to work harder than any of his contemporaries - including his cousin who turned out 72 times for the South-Western Districts provincial team too.

Without any financial support on offer to supplement a gym contract, he resorted to doing it “Rocky style” by hitting the road.

But would it be enough to get him seen?

“You always dream of playing for South Africa, but I didn't think that I would get here coming from a small town like Oudtshoorn. It's massive!” he said.

“A few years back I was at the prime of my career, but nobody noticed it because if you are just in Oudtshoorn, your talent gets wasted.

“But I feel my desire to play for South Africa let me stand up ahead of the other bowlers. The level of desire for me to be there on a consistent basis was motivating me to be good for myself.

“There is a lot of talent (in Oudtshoorn) but it doesn't get recognised for what they do. Hopefully my inclusion in the World Cup will open doors for guys in Oudtshoorn and for people to go look at what's happening in Oudtshoorn.”

It is abundantly clear that Baartman’s roots are anchored firmly to the small town in the Klein Karoo, most famous as the 'ostrich capital of the world'.

But he is also fully aware that he needed to branch out to initially the Free State and then KwaZulu-Natal with the Dolphins before being ready to take centre stage with the Sunrisers Eastern Cape. 

It was here where he was able to get up close and personal with Proteas legend Dale Steyn - a resource he could only have dreamt of a few years ago - during SA20.

“He (Steyn) was playing at the highest level, so I do feel his impact. The information he passes on I do try and implement,” Baartman said of his bowling coach at Sunrisers.

“But it's not like he wants to change you. We all know what we are capable of. So, if it's not working, we try a different route and move on from there.

“For me it's about the execution. I have my skills that I want to work on. Everyone has their own skills, but for me it's about executing the yorker. That's my go-to-ball. I train that more often than not.”

It is this skill that has earmarked him as the Proteas’ death-bowling specialist at the on-going ICC Men's T20 World Cup in the US and Caribbean and secured lucrative call-ups to the Delhi Capitals in the Indian Premier League and Hampshire in England's T20 Blast.

It certainly is a long way from knocking over dustbins in the street and worrying about where his next meal was going to come from.

Those hunger pains have now instead been replaced with a burning desire to be consistent on the international stage.

And just like that Baartman has already attained more success than he could have ever have dreamt of.