South African all-rounder Chris Morris has cleared that he is not going to sign a Kolpak deal and will continue to play for his country.
“There’s been a lot of noise around Kolpak, it has not only hampered me but has hampered a lot of other people; it’s a personal thing and is up to the person,”said Morris.
“I had a good sit down with Mark Boucher (Titans coach) and chatted to him about the Kolpak situation. There were no offers or anything, just a lot of noise around it. For me, I have committed myself to CSA and I want to play cricket for my country. I’m going to give it a full go and at the end of the day if I don’t play more cricket than I have now, then so be it, then at least I can say I tried my best to get there. If I don’t get selected for the Proteas I will go back to the Titans and fight for my spot back in the national side.”
His comments are a big relief for South African Board, which, in the recent time, have dealt with major blows as a total of six South African players have parted ways with the country by signing a Kolpak deal with English country clubs, which makes them ineligible to represent the country again.
Morris, who has played two Test matches for South Africa, said that he is eying a comeback in the Test squad.
“I will always look to play Test cricket, It’s what I want to do and what I want to play because for me it’s the best format of cricket. If I don’t play it again, so be it, but I will never stop trying to get there.”
“I have since played one four-day game in Benoni and everything looks good, I went through the game unscathed, but I would have loved to score more runs,” Morris said.
Morris’ last appearance in Test cricket came in the home series against England last year.
Morris also said he is looking forward to be the part of the South Africa squad in the Champions Trophy to be played in England in the month of June.
“I know it sounds cheesy but It’s another opportunity for me to play for my country and a chance for us to win a trophy. Every trophy we play for, we give it everything. The best way is for us to focus on every single game.”
Morris recently made a comeback to the South African squad after returning from an injury and has been included in the squad for the ODI series against Sri Lanka.