Kwena Maphaka reflects on career highlight Proteas debut

By Chad Klate
28th August 2024

South African cricketing protege Kwena Maphaka has described his historic Proteas debut as a career highlight as he became the youngest-ever player to don the jersey against West Indies.

The 18-year-old fast bowler has already made waves in the international arena, having represented SA Under-19 at the 2022 U19 World Cup when he was just 15 years old, before lighting up the 2024 edition on home soil and also making his Indian Premier League debut earlier this year.

Also, on the books of Paarl Royals in the SA20, Maphaka admits there has been no bigger sense of achievement in his career to date than officially receiving his Proteas cap.

"Yeah, no, I mean being the youngest player to represent South Africa is definitely a great privilege and it's a great honour. It's something that I'm gonna hold dear to my heart for a very long time. It's an amazing feeling, it's something that I've been dreaming about my whole life to represent the Proteas and to be the youngest to do it just adds the cherry on top of the cake," Maphaka said.

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Despite only just entering the senior ranks, Maphaka showed his character as he adopted an aggressive approach from the onset, steaming in with a number of bouncers at over 140 km/h.

The teenager says this forms part of his natural approach.

"It's something that I really enjoy doing, I like being in the batsman's face. I like kind of creating a battle even if there's no words involved. I like having a little stare-down battle that keeps me in the game and it’s kinda lets them know that I'm not here to play around. So, yeah it's something that I enjoy doing and it's quite a statement that I like to make."

Though the series ended in a 3-0 whitewash in favour of the West Indies, it was a moment of pride for Maphaka, who holds the islands in high esteem, particularly his idol and legendary quick bowler Curtley Ambrose.

"I'd say one of my cricketing role models definitely has to be Sir Curtley Ambrose and I was lucky enough in 2022 to meet him because he was the bowling coach of the West Indies under19 team when we played against them. I think the way that he goes about the game, his aggression, his control, there's a lot of things to like about him."