Kent sign Kagiso Rabada

Quote:Kent have won the race to bring one of the most exciting young talents in world cricket in Kagiso Rabada to the English game.

Rabada, who confirmed his arrival on the highest stage by destroying England with 13 wickets in the final Test in Centurion, is heading to Canterbury on a short-term deal to play second division cricket in the early weeks of the domestic season.

Durham had been expected to snap up Rabada once the 20-year-old had made it clear that he wanted to further his career in county cricket this year rather than earn more money with an Indian Premier League franchise.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/cricket...eason.html

I am excited by this news. I can't wait to see more of Rabada this year. He is an absolute superstar in the making. He bowls at good pace, gets the ball to move and has a nice, easy, fluid delivery. He will cause absolute havoc in the second division. I was hoping that Hampshire might somehow be able to acquire his services, but it looks as though fellow South African ry@n McLaren will be their overseas player.

I commend Rabada on giving up making big money in the IPL in an effort to further his development as a bowler. During the recent series against England, Shaun Pollock spoke a bit about Rabada approaching him about playing county cricket this year and Pollock advised him it would be a fantastic move. He will have that ball hooping all over the show.

I'm glad that he's chosen the route that will help him to grow as a cricketer, but I just hope they don't overwork him. Sometimes young fast bowlers suffer a lot of injuries and fade away without ever having achieved their full potential.

I know that the article mentioned that there will be no limitations put on Rabada's workload, but you would hope that Kent will act sensibly and will do so in coordination with CSA. I, myself, was a little worried about Rabada's workload in the final two Test matches, and Mikey Holding also spoke out at some length about this. He made an excellent point - a fast bowler can either be a strike bowler or a workhorse, but he can't be both.

Rabada's ceiling is sky high. Over the last 12-months, Rabada's strike-rate (39.6) is the lowest of all pace bowlers that have appeared in a minimum of 6 innings. This is even more impressive when you consider two of those matches took place in India.

Rabada has been a terrific find for South Africa and so far he has done well to manage the expectations of him. A county stint is always beneficial for a fast bowler and hopefully he will come out a better bowler. He missed the IPL bus due to not being picked by any team but that can come later as and when he becomes a better bowler

[quote author=thedeatheater1410 link=topic=102722.msg679005#msg679005 date=1455605153]
Rabada has been a terrific find for South Africa and so far he has done well to manage the expectations of him. A county stint is always beneficial for a fast bowler and hopefully he will come out a better bowler. He missed the IPL bus due to not being picked by any team but that can come later as and when he becomes a better bowler
[/quote]
Rabada elected not to enter the IPL auction, instead preferring to play county cricket. I believe Rabada's decision to play county cricket this year had been in the works long prior to the England/South Africa series. In fact, even in October of last year, during South Africa's series with India, Rabada made mention of not wanting to play in the IPL in 2016, instead preferring to do whatever it takes to improve as a bowler before cashing in for a big pay day.

This was a wise move, especially in light of the fact that in his young career, Rabada has played just 20 first-class matches in South Africa. He is still very much learning his trade in the four/five day game.

Great conditions to work on the art of Swing !

Hopefully Kent has a good bowling attack and dont rely on him.

It has been confirmed that Rabada will play in two County Championship matches, six T20 Blast matches and one Royal London One Day Cup fixture. This is great for Rabada. He gets to play in all three formats of the game without overtaxing himself. His comments about signing for Kent are refreshing.

Quote:"After the World T20, he has to come back, rest and get strong. And then he decided he wants to play county cricket this year because he is not sure when he will get the opportunity to do it again," an insider told ESPNcricinfo. "He wants to play in the IPL one day but for his own career, he thought a county stint would benefit him at this time."

Rabada had been expected to pursue a county deal after opting not to go into the IPL auction this year, as part of his own plan of progression.

Rabada said: "I will play hard and try my best. I want to learn from the experience - particularly bowling in different conditions. Most of all I am looking forward to enjoying the experience."

The nice thing for him is that South Africa will be touring there next year," Faf du Plessis, South Africa's T20 captain said. "He hasn't bowled with the Dukes ball, he hasn't played in those conditions and I think its massively important for a young guy to go and play because you basically play every second day. You learn a lot about traveling and playing."

But du Plessis warned that Rabada's workload will need to be managed. "The key for him is not to bowl too much when he is over there. If you are playing in county cricket, the overseas bowlers can come back three feet shorter," du Plessis joked, although he conceded that a month in county cricket it would be less of a strain on Rabada than a full IPL.

"In the IPL, you are going to bowl a lot. You are playing 18 or 19 T20 games and practising every day. You bowl a lot," du Plessis said. "In county cricket, someone can have a look and monitor his overs a little bit better. It's about not over-bowling him in this part of his career."

http://www.espncricinfo.com/southafrica/...73563.html