Interviews

SA20 AUCTION SMART BUYS: KYLE VERRYENNE

22 Aug 20244 mins

The Betway SA20 Season 3 auction is almost upon us with October 1 saved as the date when the hammer will be brought out again.

The first two auctions certainly had the tongues wagging with some big-money purchases.

However, teams have also made some shrewd purchases with players delivering performances that far outweigh their price tags.

In a new six-part series, SA20 will highlight the bargain buys that have shot the lights out - starting with Pretoria Capitals' Kyle Verreynne, bought for R175 000 at the Season 2 player auction.

The Proteas Test wicketkeeper spent Season 1 at cross-town rivals Joburg Super Kings. By his own admission Verryenne did not deliver performances worthy of being retained and he was released after the opening season and went back into the auction roster.

“To be honest, I am quite a realistic guy, so when I got released from JSK, I obviously had not done well for Joburg, and I don’t think there was any T20 cricket domestically, so there wasn’t any chance to put your name in lights, or anything like that again ahead of the next auction,” Verreynne said.

This situation saw Verreynne adopt a very philosophical approach to the Season 2 auction.

“To be very honest with you, when that draft was happening, in my head I was already on the plane to go play the Test series in New Zealand,” he said.

“I had sort of made peace with the fact that the first year didn’t go too well. You look at the other teams, and you think maybe there’s a gap for me here, maybe a gap here, but I was pretty content that I wasn’t going to be picked up at all and I would be going to New Zealand instead with the Test side.

When Kyle Verreynne came up for grabs at the 2023 Player Auction, the Pretoria Capitals brains trust including Jacques Kallis (a fellow Wynberg Old Boy) were quick to add the Proteas wicketkeeper-batter to their star-studded squad.

“So, when I got bought, my initial reaction was that I’m now under the pump in the Test side because obviously we only had the India series. I thought to myself that if I don't do well there, and I miss the New Zealand series, I could find myself under pressure in the Test side. That sort of went through my mind at the start.”

It was only after taking some time out to reflect on the global standing of SA20 as a whole that Verryenne’s mindset changed.

“You take a step back, and look at the fact that SA20 is probably the second biggest league in the world at the moment,” he said.

“It’s a great opportunity. I wasn’t too fussed about the money aspect. But I think it was just another good opportunity to be part of the League, and if you do well in a few games, then you can end up making a bit of a name for yourself. It was just nice to still be part of the tournament.”

Verreynne had to wait until the Capitals’ fourth match of their campaign to get a hit out, where he made an immediate impact with a sparkling undefeated 72 off 52 balls (7x4; 1x6) against the Joburg Super Kings.

Unfortunately for Verreynne, he formed part of two consecutive batting blowouts by the Capitals’ batters in the next couple of matches, which caused the doubts to resurface.

But that only set up the platform for a record-breaking innings with Verreynne setting a new highest score in the competition’s history by blasting 116 not out off just 52 balls (7x4; 9x6) against MI Cape Town at Centurion. Verreynne eclipsed Joburg Super Kings’ captain Faf du Plessis’ previous best of 113.

“The first game I played in Season 2 I got a few runs against JSK, but then went through a couple of games where I never scored much,” Verreynne said.

“I think going into that game I was pretty certain it was going to be my last game. In fact, I actually thought I was going to be dropped before that game.

“I just went into it with the mindset that this is probably my last chance to make an impact, because as a team we were also basically out of the tournament.

“That’s where my mind was at. And then they made 240 (248/4) and before I looked again, we were like 10/4 (34/4) or something ridiculous like that.

“From a personal perspective, it was almost a blessing in disguise because in situations like that there is almost no thinking involved.

“You know exactly what you need to do. You just have to try and bat as long as possible.

“It was just trying to get to the end of the innings. Enjoy my time in the middle. And just get some runs under the belt. It was just me trying to bat and it worked out quite nicely.”

Verreynne has since been retained by the Pretoria Capitals for Season 3 and is looking forward to playing under new coach Jonathan Trott.

VERREYNNE STATS - SA20 SEASON 2