Dubai: South Africa-born cricketers are making an impact on English cricket. Knocking on the doors of the England team is South Africa-born Craig Kieswetter, who hit a sparkling 81 to steer England Lions to a stunning victory over Pakistan in Abu Dhabi on Wednesday.
Kevin Pietersen, their star player, is also a South Africa-born cricketer. When asked about the increasing number of players from South Africa making an impact and qualifying to play for England, skipper Paul Collingwood said: "I think there is a lot of influx of South Africa-born players in the past few years and a lot of players have made the decisions due to what is going on in South Africa. They have got the best opportunities in England and a lot of them are very good players."
Cricket South Africa's controversial quota system of including non-white players had upset the chances of many cricketers like Pietersen, who had migrated to England.
"As long as they qualify and go down the right channels, we have no problem. We cannot say it is good for one player and not good for another," added Collingwood.
In fact, Collingwood feels South Africa-born players are good hitters of the ball, which is essential for One-day and Twenty20 cricket. "They all hit the ball hard. There was Alan Lamb and Robin Smith in the early days and KP [Pietersen] came into the game and also hit the ball hard. Kieswetter is no different from them."
