Last Updated on 20 seconds ago by Charbel Coorey
20-year-old Lhuan-dre Pretorius says he has a dream of scoring 10,000 Test runs for South Africa. The young gun has been superb in T20 cricket, and also has a love for the red-ball game.
In a statement that would surely light up the hearts of all traditionalists, Pretorius described Test cricket as the game’s pinnacle. In an interview with cricbuzz, the left-hander said that he will prioritise Tests no matter what the narratives are about young players wanting to only play franchise cricket.
Dream is to score 10,000 Test runs for South Africa – Lhuan-dre Pretorius
Pretorius has played 76 top-level T20s to date, producing the goods around the world including in the SA20 and MLC. He has scored 1,955 runs at an impressive strike rate of 146.44, and recently hit his first century.
However, when it comes to formats, Test cricket takes top spot for the 20-year-old.
“Hopefully, I’m lucky enough to play a lot of Test cricket and be able to score 10,000 Test runs because that’s a dream of mine. And that’s definitely why I’d give any format up or any cricket to play Test cricket for South Africa for as long as I can,” he said.
“But yeah, it doesn’t really affect me what they say [narratives about young players only wanting to play franchise cricket]. I know deep inside that I want to play Test cricket, and that’s my dream and goal.”
South Africa, current World Test Champions, have not played a Test since beating India 2-0 late last year. They have some massive matches coming up as they host Australia, Bangladesh and England between October and January.
Pretorius has two Tests under his belt and says he wants to play more. He smashed a century on debut against Zimbabwe last year, where he showcased his talent in a tricky situation.
“As I said, to score 10,000 Test runs. Yeah, there’s nothing better than playing Test cricket. I think, like everyone says, it’s the pinnacle of cricket. I just want to play Test cricket so badly, and I’d give you anything to play Test cricket,” he said.
