Nortjé played the last of his 19 Tests against West Indies in March 2023.
Fast bowler Anrich Nortjé during a Proteas training session. Picture: Matt Roberts/ICC/Getty Images
For more than three years, fast bowler Anrich Nortjé has had to feel a pinch of dejection every time he sees his national Test cap laying in his house, and he is eager to finally put it back on.
Between 2019 and 2023, Nortjé took 70 wickets in 19 Tests for South Africa, securing a regular spot in the national squad with his fearsome pace.
However, recurring back injuries derailed his top-flight red-ball career, and he was left to watch as younger bowlers emerged as rising Proteas stars.
Though he continued to represent the national T20 squad, albeit rather sporadically, his susceptibility to injury left him sidelined from longer formats.
But with multiple injured fast bowlers being unavailable for the first of three Tests against Australia in Durban starting on Friday, 32-year-old Nortjé was recalled to an 18-member provisional national squad announced last week.
And though he needed to prove during an ongoing training camp that he could handle the workload required in a Test match if he hoped to be included in the team for the opening match of the series, he was delighted to be back in the national red-ball setup.
“It’s always been in the plans to be back, and it’s taken a bit longer than I was hoping, but obviously things have happened over the past few years,” Nortjé said Sunday.
“It’s really nice to be back, and it’s lekker to be bowling with the red ball again and to be with the boys in this environment.”
Working hard to make a comeback
Nortje was in good form, as he indicated by taking 19 scalps in 10 matches for the Rotterdam Rockers in the European T20 Premier League competition which concluded two weeks ago.
And he said he had spent a lot of time analysing his run-up and his bowling action to try ensure injuries didn’t flare up if he was selected to face the touring Aussies. He had also been working with Piet Botha, the Proteas’ bowling coach in the five-day format, in an attempt to relaunch his Test career.
Nortjé hoped to get a better idea of his red-ball form during a two-day intra-squad match which would be played ahead of the first Test this week.
“So far I’ve felt really good. We’ve obviously been in the nets, but we’ve also had a few sessions out here in the middle, and it’s feeling good,” he said.
“I’m keen to see how it goes in the warm-up game as well, but I do think things are moving in the right direction.”
