Lungi Ngidi hasn’t played a game in two months and is using his downtime to give back to under-served communities and giving children an outlet to express themselves and the opportunity to develop their interest, learn new skills and discover their talents.
Proteas fast bowler Lungi Ngidi. Picture: @OfficialCSA/Twitter
JOHANNESBURG – Proteas fast bowler Lungi Ngidi and Cricket South Africa (CSA) conducted a coaching clinic at Meadowlands Primary School where they introduced the sport to 25 learners and taught them about gender-based violence (GBV) on Wednesday.
The fight against GBV is one that is close to Ngidi’s heart, having experienced the pain it brought to him and family members who were abused.
“There are family members [of mine] who have been affected by gender-based violence, so it is something I feel strongly about,” Ngidi said
Ngidi hasn’t played a game in two months and is using his downtime to give back to under-served communities and giving children an outlet to express themselves and the opportunity to develop their interest, learn new skills and discover their talents.
“I heard there is a township cricket programme here with six schools that play against each other. I want to get involved in that and help these guys to kick-start their careers. Even if that is not cricket so that they have something to do, rather than running the streets and doing God knows what,” said Ngidi.
Ngidi said that he’d had a good off-season and a chance to rest his body ahead of what is certain to be a gruelling season where he’ll play in the new T20 league in the United States, as well as Australia’s limited-overs tour of South Africa in August and September and hopefully the Cricket World Cup in India in October.
The paceman also admitted to feeling shock and anger at being left out of newly-appointed coach Shukri Conrad’s Test team in February after the dismal tour Down Under where he took three wickets in two matches.
“At the time, I didn’t feel like it [getting dropped] made sense to me. At first, you get angry, but I guess that’s part of life. After a few days, that anger is gone and you realise you have to get yourself back in [the Test team],” Ngidi said.
The longest form of the game is Ngidi’s favourite format and bouncing back into contention for selection is foremost on his mind and he’s spent a lot of time working on his batting in the off period and honing his bowling skills in training.
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