SA’s newest cricket hero, JP DUMINY, sits in the stands at Newlands and shakes his head. “Yup, it’s unreal - and a little overwhelming,” he says.
He’s about to join the Nashua Cape Cobras for practice but he has things other than the Proteas’ unforgettable Aussie tour on his mind, such as the R18,9 million he’s being paid to play Twenty20 cricket in the Indian Premier League (IPL) over the next two years - about six weeks of cricket each year.
“It’s overwhelming to think I can earn that sort of big money,” he says. “I haven’t got around to thinking what I might buy.”
But he has thought about what he could learn from the experience. “It’s exciting. There’s a lot of hype around the IPL and the price on my head creates a lot of pressure and lots of expectations. But above all I’d like to enjoy it.”
Jean-Paul Duminy (24) speaks with the maturity of a guy who has come through the pressure cooker of cricket in front of an Aussie crowd with flying colours (and a flying bat). He seemed remarkably calm while punishing the Aussie bowlers during the Proteas’ recent tour. How does he remain focused for more than seven hours at a stretch?
He laughs. “Of course you want to portray that image because you want to seem calm. But I think everyone gets nervous.
“To keep your concentration you have to think on your feet and understand what a particular situation requires - and that comes with experience.” So, he says, you think back to what you did in previous situations “and improve on it”.
His Test debut was a career highlight and so was his top score in the second Test. “To walk out on the MCG (Melbourne Cricket Ground) and score a high Test score in front of 70 000 people who aren’t cheering for you and then hear them applauding you - what an experience!”
JP is thinking ahead to the World Cup in India. “It will be wonderful to be able to be there.” He knows a lot is expected from him. “Everyone experiences highlights and slumps. But there will hopefully be more highlights. I can only try to be as consistent as possible and stay modest.”
- Read the full interview in the 19 February issue of YOU.
