Local spinner shares his interesting debut for Titans
The 26-year-old from Cullinan surprised many cricket fans around the world with his ambidextrous bowling during the Mzansi Super League.
Multiply Titans spinner Gregory Mahlokwane recently spoke about his journey from KFC Mini-Cricket to playing franchise cricket.
The 26-year-old from Cullinan surprised many cricket fans around the world with his ambidextrous bowling during the Mzansi Super League (MSL).
“(My love for cricket) started in grade 1 back in Cullinan. I was influenced by my teacher to play cricket but it was hard because in black communities soccer is the dominating sport,” he said.
“I played for the KFC Mini-Cricket teams until grade 4 and after that, started playing with the hard ball. I was a seam bowler, one of the quickest but because of my height, I had to change and bowl spin.”
After being involved with the mini cricket for over a year, Mahlokwane made the Northerns provincial team at the age of 11.
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“I also played for the Standard Bank u.13 side as well during my time with the Northerns but, unfortunately, I had to stop playing cricket when I started high school,” he said.
Despite this setback, his love for cricket continued to grow and a year later, he found himself back in the cricket nets.
“After matric, I studied BComm marketing at the University of Fort Hare for two years, before returning to the Northerns. During my time there, I worked with head coach Mfuneki Ngam (former Proteas fast bowler). It was fun, we had to study hard and also play the game hard, so it was all about finding balance,” Mahlokwane said.
He gave credit to his childhood coach Johnny Nkuna, who convinced him to come back to Pretoria to play his cricket for the Titans.
In 2017, the spinner made his memorable debut for the Titans having returned from the Eastern Cape.
“Having the best coaches helped me a lot. I had (Mark) Boucher and Albie (Morkel) by my side and they said I needed to back myself and just be disciplined. It was hard for me (at first) because I had just came back to club/varsity cricket to franchise cricket,” he said.
Speaking about his debut game, Mahlokwane also bagged a wicket on the day which he still cherishes.
“I wasn’t supposed to play that game but Lungi (Ngidi) got injured so I had to step in. Initially, I faked an injury because of the nerves but Mandla Mashimbyi (Titans coach) told me not fake an injury but to just go out there and do my best. So I went there to play and it was nice to play alongside the Morkel brothers and Farhaan Behardien,” he said.
“I remember we played the Cape Cobras in Newlands and my first wicked was of Aviwe Mgijima. I bowled him out if I remember correctly, so it was like black on black.”
He said he was excited about the new season
“We in a good space as we have been training hard in the few weeks. My short-term goal is to represent the Titans in all formats. Although I specialise in white ball cricket, I’m looking forward to playing 4-day games,” Mahlokwane said.
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