Duanne Olivier has essentially closed the curtain on his international career with South Africa after announcing that he has signed a three-year Kolpak deal with Yorkshire on Tuesday.
Olivier announced himself to the world during the Pakistan series where he took an impressive 24 wickets across three tests to be named the man of the series.
This came off the back of being named the leading wicket taker during the inaugural Mzansi Super League.
Olivier was offered a two-year contract with the national side but opted to take the overseas route.
His contract is reportedly worth R2.7 million per season over three years in comparison to the R900 000 per season for two years that Cricket South Africa had offered to him.
CSA expressed their disappointment in the fast bowlers decision given the chance he received from the call up they provided. CSA Chief Executive Thabang More had the following to say on the announcement:
“We find it extremely disappointing that Duanne has taken this step after all the opportunities we have given him, particularly over the past season and going forward, to live his dream of being an international cricketer,”.
Meanwhile, past players have weighed in on the debate including Kevin Pietersen who said the move was only logical on twitter.
The #DuaneOlivier scenario:
EVERY sportsman is a business now!
Name me someone in business that wouldn’t move jobs for:
1. More money?
2. Less work?
3. Job security?It’s the world of sport now! You might not like it, but it’s REAL!
— Kevin Pietersen???? (@KP24) February 27, 2019
The good news for the Protea’s is that Lungi Ngidi is back following his long spell on the sidelines. But with Dale Steyn in the twilight of his career and Vernon Philander not far behind, CSA will have to start getting some more youngsters into the side to form the next generation test team attack.
