Former South African spinner Johan Botha has made a U-turn from his retirement to play in the Big Bash Leauge (BBL) 2020 for Hobart Hurricanes for which he had played in the eighth season.
The 38-year-old Botha retired from international cricket in 2019 after representing South Africa in 5 Tests, 78 ODIs and 40 T20Is for the Proteas in which he scalped 17, 72 and 37 wickets respectively. He is currently the assistant coach of the Karachi Kings in the Pakistan Super League T20 competition.
But he has come back from his retirement because he feels that he is still fit to play the game.
“It was a choice between ‘Do I further my coaching career, or do I miss the first couple of games of the Pakistan Super League?'” Johan Botha said.
“I figured I’m as fit as I’ve ever been, and I feel I can still make a contribution to the team,” he continued. “I’ve missed playing but I didn’t really want to put it out there and say ‘can you pick me’ in case it didn’t work out, so we kept it quiet from when we first chatted about it at the Shield hub in Adelaide, and it slowly built up from there.”
Johan Botha available from the game one for Hurrican:
Botha is no stranger to the BBL, having previously played three seasons with the Adelaide Strikers from 2012 to 2014, before joining the Sydney Sixers from 2015 to 2018, and then the Hobart Hurricanes for BBL 8.
His Australian citizenship in 2016 and is on the coaching roster for Tasmania, will qualify as a local player and be available for the first game.
Meanwhile, the Hurricanes will start their BBL 10 campaign when they face reigning Champions, the Sydney Sixers, at Blundstone Arena on Thursday.