Cape Town - Richard Levi’s continued omission from all the national limited-overs squads is a mystery to his Cape Cobras coach Paul Adams.
Although Andrew Puttick is the leading run-scorer in the 1-Day Cup with 450 runs at an average of 90, it’s Levi’s ability to get his team off to a belligerent start within the powerplay overs that allows his opening partner to go calmly about his accumulating of runs.
Levi’s form has also been consistently good in both the 1-Day and Twenty20 competitions for the past few seasons. At the moment, the 27-year-old has 221 runs - boosted by a 64-ball 80 against the Highveld Lions last Saturday - at an average of 44 in five matches. Two seasons ago he amassed 620 runs at 56.36 in the 1-Day Cup, while he was again top of the charts in the Cobras’ march to the RamSlam T20 trophy this season with 392 runs.
Although the Proteas squad for the forthcoming World Cup has been rubberstamped, it is perplexing as to why Levi is not featuring for the SA A side against the English Lions in Kimberley Wednesdy either.
“Honestly, I really don’t know,” Adams told the Cape Times. “He has put up the numbers across both limited-overs formats over the past few years. He is also one of the most destructive batsmen in the country who has the ability to change a match within a few overs. He gives us a lot of momentum at the top of the order and the way he plays also allows a guy like Putters to play his natural game without feeling any scoreboard pressure.”
Levi has worn the green shirt of the Proteas in T20 cricket before - his last international was in December 2012 against New Zealand - and he still holds the national T20 record for the fastest century.
During that stint, Levi was exposed to class spin-bowling on the subcontinent, and it was believed that he had technical deficiencies.
However, the powerful right-hander has since gone away to spend some time during the winter months playing English county cricket for Northamptonshire, where he has learnt to adapt to different sorts of conditions, while he has also featured more prominently for the Cobras in first-class cricket this season.
His bottom right hand remains the dominant feature, using it to generate power through the ball, but he has tightened up his technique significantly by playing the ball under his eyes instead of ahead of his front pad.
“Playing four-day cricket has certainly helped Richie. He is perhaps not as loose as before, and he also chooses which ball to hit a little bit more carefully. If you watched his innings on Saturday, despite his scoring rate, it was a solid innings.
“It was a difficult wicket, one ball kept low, the other flew over the ‘keeper’s head, but Richie got stuck in and really played a good innings,” Adams said.
The Cobras have a busy home weekend ahead, with crucial matches against the Titans and Warriors on Friday and Sunday respectively.
Although they have virtually secured a playoff spot through their 25 points on the log, propelling them into a nine-point lead over the Dolphins, the team are pushing for a home 1-Day Cup final for the second season running. They will have extra incentive to achieve that goal, especially after last year’s showpiece was washed out, forcing the Cobras to share the trophy for the second year running.
Cape Times