Piedt ends SA career to chase USA dream

By Agencies
March 29, 2020

DUBAN: Dane Piedt, the nine-times capped South African Test offspinner, still harbours hopes of playing at a 50-over World Cup, albeit not for the country of his birth.

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Piedt will move to the USA in the next few months to be part of the new Minor League T20 tournament, which is due to launch this summer, ending his career at home. And he intends to meet qualifying criteria to play for the USA national team and hopes to be part of their campaign to appear at the ICC's flagship event.

“The USA were given ODI status last year so it's not completely out of the question,” Piedt told ESPNcricinfo, from his home in Kenilworth in South Africa's Western Cape Province, on the first day of a three-week nationwide lockdown aimed to slow the spread of the coronavirus. It may be far from the ideal occasion to sign an employment contract that will take Piedt thousands of kilometres away but for him the timing was right. “I just signed the deal this morning but no-one really knows when I will be able to travel. It was an opportunity I just couldn't pass up, financially and for lifestyle reasons, but it was still a tough decision to make.”

In opting to move abroad, Piedt has not only taken himself out of contention for national selection but he has also ended a decade-long association with the Cobras franchise, where he has played throughout his career and is entering the complete unknown. He has never travelled to the USA and doesn't even know where he will be based in the long term. “I'm a massive basketball fan, so that helps,” Piedt said. “I will have a choice of four cities - New York, Chicago, Los Angeles or Seattle - to live in but the rest will be a surprise.”

Piedt has been taking tips from former Warriors seamer Rusty Theron, who helped him secure the deal. Theron has been living in the USA for several years, studied teaching in Miami and made his ODI debut for the country last year. “He has given me some information, especially about the cricket scene there. It's a decent set-up and I know they have some good cricketers like Xavier Marshall and a few Australians and Indians who played in national Under-19 teams and then moved.”

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