Whether you're a batsman, bowler, or an all-rounder, fitness is tough if you follow your regimen religiously.
My father was a coal hewer from Goldthorpe, a coal-mining village in South Yorkshire. He played for the Yorkshire second team as an opening fast bowler - to me he was a gorgeously heroic man. He helped form a union and closed down the Barnsley seam because it was seeping gas, and saved many, many lives.
At cricket, I was mainly a bowler and tried to bat. I hit the odd four or six and then got out! In athletics, I was mainly triple jump and 200m.
Like the periwig and the bowler hat, the plus-four and the bow-tie, the blazer is on the way out, and those who persist in wearing it do so with a smattering of self-consciousness, a touch of obstinacy, even a pinch of camp.
You get drafted, you perform like a Pro Bowler, then they pay you. But there's certain teams in this league, that's not what they're trying to do.
Once I step over that white line I become The Bowler.
I would love to bowl 160 km/h. Any fast bowler would love to do that. But for me that is almost impossible.
I mean everyone's always spoken about fast bowlers and especially myself as a strike bowler, but I look at myself as somebody who could hold down the runs, you know, over 200 games, I've taken a lot of wickets but I've got a pretty decent economy rate.
I've never been bothered about being the highest wicket-taker in the world or the best South African bowler in the world.
Generally I don't say too much on the field. However, I am a fast bowler and with that comes the responsibility of saying a word or two and getting in a guy's face.
