RACE AGAINST TIME South Africa's Gerald Coetzee will hope to play a key part of the Proteas' Champions Trophy campaign next year. Picture: Phill Magakoe/AFP
Image: Phill Magakoe / AFP
Proteas fast bowler Gerald Coetzee, if his recovery from injury goes well, is hoping to play a key role for South Africa in the ICC Champions Trophy next year.
As the focus right now is firmly on qualifying for the World Test Championship at Lord’s in 2025, the Proteas will also have the small matter of competing in the ICC Champions Trophy running from February 19 to March 9 in Pakistan.
It will be the first time the tournament has been hosted since 2017, and it remains the only ICC senior men’s trophy that the Proteas have lifted.
South Africa won the inaugural event in 1998, and perhaps the class of 2025 will fancy their chances at rekindling some of their former glory, and Coetzee will hope to be one his side’s protagonists.
“It would be an honour to be a part of the Champions Trophy team. I am always working hard to improve and become a better cricketer wherever I play,” Coetzee told SportsBoom.com.
“It is an exciting tournament, and to get the privilege to represent South Africa will require me to keep working continuously.
“The biggest significance in our recent success has been the talented pool of players with really good coaching. It has been a great combination and also a great mix of experience with players that have played for a long time, and they have really mastered their craft, and young players that are stepping up to the occasion.”
The 24-year-old Coetzee, however, is currently out injured with a groin problem. He picked up the injury during the first Test against Sri Lanka in Durban on December 1, and has been ruled out of action for four to six weeks.
It means if his recovery goes according to plan, he will have less than a month to prove his fitness for the Proteas squad for the Champions Trophy.
If selected, Coetzee would aim to build on his side’s run to the T20 World Cup final earlier this year.
“We did well in recent tournaments purely because of playing good cricket. As a country, we want to win the World Cup, but we also want to be consistently good, and I think that is a fair assessment of what we are trying to achieve as the South African cricket team.”
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