Former Krugersdorp resident the next Black Cap star?

A former young resident of Krugersdorp, Ethan Fagan, 17, is set to become the next rising star of New Zealand cricket.

After being in his new country for just over two years, Ethan was elected as a prefect and head of sports at his school.

It was a real honour for me to be elected,” he said from his home in Torbay, Auckland. “I was aiming to be a prefect, but was honoured when I was appointed the head of sports too.”

Ethan attended Monument Primary and Krugersdorp High School (KHS) until April 2019 when he moved to New Zealand with his parents and 21-year-old brother Jared after Ethan’s dad had accepted a job offer in Auckland.

Ethan started at Long Bay College on the North Shore in September 2019. He repeated year 10 (South Africa’s Grade 9) due to not having attended school for five months.

“I was still a newbie at the school but I already had my eyes on the cricket pitch,” he said, and added that all his cricket gear was in a container in the middle of the ocean.

“So my dad bought me the essentials and I borrowed the rest of the gear for my first few matches.”

He played for the KHS first team so it didn’t take him long to be noticed for his fast bowling.

“They were quite surprised that the new kid could bowl 130km per hour.”

He was appointed as cricket captain at the start of 2021 after being vice captain in 2020. Ethan also plays reserves (one step below premier league) for East Coast Bays Cricket Club and gets private coaching from Doug Watson, a former South African cricketer.

Ethan has always been interested in cricket. He started playing in the foundation phase in primary school and loved playing backyard cricket with his family in South Africa.

I guess once the cricket bat touched my hands, it was very difficult letting it go.”

He regards Black Cap fast bowler Lockie Ferguson as his idol and as for the Protea team, he sees Morne Morkel and Quinton de Kock as legends in the game.

“I remember when I was in primary school and Quinton was there to fetch his friend who was a teacher. I just stared and grinned at him. He smiled back and waved. In those days, that was the best day of my life.”

Asked whether he saw himself wearing national colours, he said, “Absolutely!”

“My goal was to play for the national team. If it isn’t green and gold for the Proteas, then it will be the Black Caps,” he said.

He added that both teams are super strong and have amazing players.

During off season, Ethan plays golf, swims and goes to gym.

“I’ve tried playing football but my hands kept wanting to touch the ball,” he laughed.

After matric, he wants to study geophysics as well as continue to play cricket.

He said moving to a new country was very tough.

It’s an emotional roller coaster. We had to say goodbye to family, friends and pets. It was very difficult. I’m really blessed to have my parents and older brother. We do so much together, explore new sights and talk. We talk a lot. Since moving, I’ve realised that we as teenagers don’t know everything and we need to talk to our parents. Parents don’t know what we go through if we don’t tell them. I’ve both laughed and cried with my parents.

“We need to be so grateful for good people in our lives. In a blink of an eye, circumstances change and they are not there anymore.”