Having been brought up through the South African domestic structure, Andries Gous was either teammates or had played against all of the eleven Proteas men on the park in his 10 year long span as a domestic cricketer in South Africa. While he was prolific in List A and first class formats, he flattered to deceive in his T20 outings for the Knights with an average of 12 in 12 innings.
If those Proteas men were kept in an eco chamber for the past three years or hadn’t followed his exploits in America or the UAE, there is a high chance they’d fail to recognize the man under the lid. The man who flew under the radar in South African domestic cricket for years had metamorphosed himself into a T20 crusader. The man who’s only dream in life, by his admission, was to play a World Cup game for South Africa was now turning the screws on them. With just 28 needed off 12 deliveries at one point, the fear was palpable in the eyes of Aiden Markram’s men. For, Gous was on course to script one of the greatest redemption stories the sport would’ve ever seen.
Gous carried his bat for a whirlwind 80 off 47 deliveries embellished with 5 fours and 5 sixes. He got off to a tentative start, quite fathomable considering the emotional quotient involved. He announced himself by drilling Kagiso Rabada over his head before running down the track to deposit Marco Jansen over cow corner. Following a momentary slump with wickets falling in heaps around him, he combined with Harmeet Singh to give the Proteas a massive scare. The pair added a quickfire stand of 91 runs to get them within striking distance of the target of 195. In the second half of the innings, Gous had completely unleashed himself plundering 45 off the last 18 deliveries.
He carted around Tabraiz Shamsi for a couple of boundaries and two back to back sixes on a wicket that had almost started turning square by the death. Whenever pitted against, Gous is now almost making a habit of bossing some of the premier wrist spinners in world cricket. Growing up on fast wickets in South Africa, deciphering wrist spin is a skill set that Gous has acquired after his move to America. He took Adil Rashid to the cleaners in Abu Dhabi with 3 sixes and a four within 7 deliveries. Waninda Hasaranga was the next to face the wrath of his blade in an ILT20 game, muscling him around for 32 off 16 deliveries.
Racial quotas and a deflated cricketing ecosystem in South Africa at that time meant Gous was on the lookout to seek greener pastures elsewhere. He was invited by the MLC along with a slew of other South Africans to ply their trade in the US. The move to the US unshackled him as a batter. Playing on high scoring astro turf wickets initially forced him to go hell for leather from ball one. The time spent on the dust bowls of Texas and California transformed him into a master manoeuvrer against spin. Playing close to 70-80 quality T20 games on slower outfields over the past 3 years has made him earn his stripes to be the most accomplished T20 batter in America.
Coming from a high performance setting which afforded him the luxury of gym programs, dedicated batting coaches, S & C coaches and a physio at each training, Gous had none of that when he was posted initially in Seattle. The onus lied on him to keep enhancing his game. He was also tasked with coaching at the MLC Academy in Seattle, which further complicated his struggle as a cricketer. It is this graft where he learned the art of taking ownership of the situation on or off the field. The pretty little 30-40s in South Africa made way for match winning 70-80s on a consistent basis in T20 cricket. The toil that has made him emerge as world cricket’s brightest new T20 star.
“I think I’m probably better now than I was, in certain aspects. I’m probably worse than I was in other ones. But I think it’s just purely the exposure we got and the people that gave you the right opportunities at the right time, which probably I never would have gotten in South Africa, unfortunately. My dream was still to play for South Africa. But after I got dropped from Knights, I sort of realised that probably won’t be possible unless there are a few miracles waiting to happen” said Gous to Cricbuzz before flying to Antigua.
Miracles did happen albeit in his newly adopted country. In a short span Gous became the hottest T20 commodity in America. Gous stands tall as the highest Minor League Cricket run getter across 3 seasons. An X factor player that he is, he has been pivotal in Seattle Thunderbolts’ championship run in 2022 followed by an equally successful stint for the Dallas Mustangs in 2023. His American escapades made him an Abu Dhabi T10 regular with Samp Army. A 15 ball 40 against the LA Knight Riders in the MLC in front of an awestruck Venky Mysore earned him a ticket to the ILT20.
Allan Donald once quipped how Gous was a poor man’s Rohit Sharma as he reminded him of the Indian captain in everything that he did. Already at the top of the run charts for this World Cup, Gous could well be one of the most coveted T20 guns for hire in leagues around the world.
