Harmer still surprised by debut success
Chevrolet Warriors spinner Simon Harmer believes that his anonymity last season was one of the main reasons for ending as the top wicket-taker in four day cricket.
The right-arm off-break bowler, playing in his first full campaign, took the premier first-class competition by storm with 44 wickets in just nine games.
He acknowledges that being an unknown had helped him, saying that he would have to add new dimensions to his game in 2012/13 if he wanted to be just as successful.
“Obviously I wanted to make an impact,” he told supersport.com. “I came into the season after getting some opportunities the season before, so I knew I was going to be involved in the SuperSport Series, but I wasn’t sure to what extent.
“I put in the performances, but to be fair, I think I was a bit of an unknown quantity.
“Guys didn’t really know who I was or what I was all about. I think it’s going to be a lot harder this season.
“Teams are going to do a lot more analysis on me and it will be up to me to maintain what I started last year.”
The 23-year-old made his four-day debut a season earlier when he played just one game, but took six wickets.
He admits that his success came as a massive surprise.
“If someone had told me I would end up taking 44 wickets in the season, I would have laughed at them,” he said. “So I did surprise myself and I’d love another surprise this year.”
Harmer’s only break during the off-season was a week away from cricket in April.
Since then, he has mainly been on South Africa A, whilst also spending a few days with the High Performance squad in India.
He continued: “Most of my preparations were done with SAA, first in Durban, then Zimbabwe and also Ireland. I also went to India for a few a few days to link up with a High Performance squad in India.
“That was good because you don’t really want to rest on your laurels from last season.
“It was fantastic to get pointers and things I can come back to and work on for the new season.
“But I’m still feeling fresh and hope to play a part this season.”
Another area Harmer is hoping to improve on is his batting after scoring only 198 in 18 innings last year.
“I struggled with the bat and I see myself as an allrounder,” he added. “So I’ve been working hard to try and get my batting right and hopefully that will happen this season as well.”
