COLIN AND RUSTY -- LIKEABLE LADS

Category: Sportelizabeth

Date Added: 2 March 2010

The Chevrolet Warriors 17-year wait for a shiny piece of silverware in the trophy cabinet ended with an emphatic 71 run victory over the Nashua Dolphins in the MTN-40 final in East London.

The Chevrolet Warriors 17-year wait for a shiny piece of silverware in the trophy cabinet ended with an emphatic 71 run victory over the Nashua Dolphins in the MTN-40 final in East London. A week earlier, the Warriors had come through arguably a sterner test in edging the Nashua Cape Cobras by nine runs in their semi-final in Paarl. Colin Ingram came of age as the MTN-40's leading run scorer with 600 runs at an average of 60 and for the second year in a row, Rusty Theron was the leading wicket taker with 21 wickets at an average of 18.80. 0.

Sport Elizabeth caught up with both Juan (Rusty) Theron and Colin Ingram as they immediately turned their attention to adding another title in the form of the Standard Bank Pro20 competition (at the time of going to print the Warriors had won four matches out of five in the group stages and were preparing to play the Cape Cobras in the two-legged semi-finals.) But back to the MTN-40 and for Rusty, his four for 48 in derailing the self-same Cobras in their semi-final was one of his most satisfying performances in the competition.  He also remembers fondly the four wickets he took against the Eagles and of course, being part of a Championship winning side in the final at Buffalo Park.

Rusty has grown in stature within Eastern Province cricket in the past two seasons to the point where strong calls are being made for his inclusion in the Protea one-day set-up  and justifiably so. His record with ball (and bat for that matter) cannot be faulted but he's the first to admit that averages and stats are not his main concern. "Look, its nice to have on my CV that I'm the leading wicket taker, or whatever it may be, but personally all I'm trying to do is win cricket matches for the Warriors."

The likeable right hand bat and right arm medium fast bowler is prepared to concede, however, that being at the top of any list is not going to do him any harm in the long-run. "I realize the numbers are important to the likes of the selectors who will obviously take note of them especially now that I've done it two years in a row. So maybe in terms of further aspirations it has some effect."

At 24 years of age, Rusty still has a long career ahead of him, but right on cue, Cricket South Africa decided that he was indeed deserving of a national contract. He received the news not from CSA but from his internet-watching girlfriend Kelly Robbins. "It was a few hours before the start of the Standard Bank Pro20 match against the Cobras at Axxess DSL St Georges that Kelly came up to me and said she'd seen the CSA release on www-dot something," laughs Rusty. "Apparently everyone at EP cricket knew about it but me! I think they were trying to keep me locked in to the game that was about to take place but honestly, its an amazing feeling and a bit of a surprise really. CSA has obviously got their own set of plans for me and hopefully that means going to the T-20 World Cup in the Caribbean. It will be interesting to see where to from here."     

Shifting back into the present, Rusty reiterated his intention to remain solely focused on the Warriors. "The joy that winning the MTN-40 brought to so many people was frightening.  I think it made us all realize how desperate the people of the Eastern Cape are to having a winning team and that we must push on and make sure this isn't a one-off."

Ingram agreed that winning the MTN-40 was very special. "We have a great bunch of guys together now. "There was pressure from the public, make no mistake. We'd been a long while without a trophy and I think it was almost expected of us to beat the Dolphins. It was great to have that tightness in the squad and that belief that the trophy was going to come home with us."

Colin says the difference this year came with a little bit of introspection at the start of the season. "I sat down and had a good think about how things had been going in my career. I realized that I was tired of being in and out of the side and that if I wanted a regular place in the starting eleven, the only way to do so would be to produce results out in the middle. Its all good and well to make the team but to press on and perform is what is going to make a difference to any team. So that is where my focus came from."

A little bit of hard work never hurt either and the 24-year-old left hand bat admits to knuckling down and putting in longer hours in the nets. It has certainly paid off. A feature of Colin's batting in the MTN-40 was his footwork which at all times was so positive. He never allowed the bowlers to settle and was quick to gain the ascendancy. "I also looked at a few technical things like my back lift which had got a little bit stuck. I worked on getting it swinging nicely and up a little bit higher which has helped a lot." Professional sport has its highs and lows and Colin says he also worked hard on keeping a clear head. "I've been through some rough times so I thought it better  just to keep it simple."

Colin's sparkling knock of 125 not out against the Lions in Potchefstroom was one he'll remember for a while. "It had been going really well before then so I hit fewer balls before that game than usual. Out in the middle I just tried to stick to my routines and knew that if I dug in things would go my way as they seem to do when you're in form. I was really happy with that innings as it got us into the semi-finals."

The rest, as they say, is history and Colin is now hopeful that the team can press on to further glories. No doubt he'll be enjoying many more winning moments with Rusty Theron who is just 21 days his junior. They were both born in July 1985 with Colin ending up at Woodridge and Rusty at Grey. "We first met as part of the EP under-13 squad," says Colin. "We were part of the same winter squads and the EP under 15 and under 18 teams. We even played a year together in Bloemfontein after school when I was studying and Rusty was part of the academy up there. So yes, we're pretty tight. We've enjoyed a lot of good banter over the years and are very honest about each other's games, so a close friendship has built over that."