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Stepping out of the shadows
I’ve played a few club games with him and
really enjoyed them.
“Lord’s is always special.There’s a picture
of my father right outside the away dressing
room scoring his hundred at Lord’s, and
his name is on the honours board too. It’s
amazing really.
“You walk in there and my father has his
name above me, not many people can
boast about that.”
On the pitch, Riki shares little more than
his surname with his father. Kepler was
a mainstay inTest cricket, thriving on
attritional situations and scoring hard-
fought runs.
Wessels junior, however, is a born
entertainer. Blessed with excellent timing
and a natural instinct for quick scoring, he
has proved a destructive force in white-ball
cricket, the scourge of Nottinghamshire’s
limited-overs opponents.
“I don’t have too much of my dad in my
playing style,” he said.
“He used to bat for hours on end and I
try to hit as many balls over the rope as
possible.That’s my number one goal every
time I take to the crease, to hit at least one
six an innings.
“It’s quite strange, I look back over the
players who inspired me to play, Justin
Langer and my father who nudged and
nurdled the ball around, then someone
like Michael Slater who was a bit more
aggressive, my game is very different to
theirs.”
Wessels has been in scintillating form for
Nottinghamshire across all formats this
season.The leading six-hitter in the LV=
County Championship, it’s little surprise
that bowlers have been doing anything to
try and get under his skin.With 1539 runs
to his name and counting this summer, his
2013 season, wracked with injuries and
sporadic contributions, is now a distant
memory.
“Cricket is a funny game. Next season
could be the same as last year, sometimes it
goes like that,” he said.
“Last year I had a few niggling injuries, I
wasn’t playing as well as I should have been
and I wasn’t in as good a place as I am
this year so I’ll take it, learn from it and go
further this time.
“It’s tough but it’s part of the game. Every
week is different.You could score 100 one
week and then get a pair the next.Those
obstacles are always going to be there with
cricket and you have to be mentally strong
to push through them.
“Usually I’ve found that one year I’ll do
well in one competition and struggle in the
others but this year has been quite nice all
round, I’ve scored well in all competitions
so it’s made life a little easier for myself.
“We have a big dressing room with some
big names, and it can be a great place to
be. It’s always nice to be in a side that is
winning.
“If you’re doing the job that needs to be
done and getting the results that you need
as a side, it’s easy to put your last mistake
to the back of your mind.”
Sport is laced with players with pedigree.
Famous surnames have represented clubs
and countries across generations and to
many outside dressing rooms, the life of a
cricketer is an idyllic one.
GivenWessels’ early enthusiasm to follow
in his father’s footsteps, it’s surprising
to hear that Kepler tried his utmost to
dissuade his son from entering the game
which has immortalised their name.
“He really didn’t want me to go into
cricket,” he said.
“He had been in the sport for twenty years
before I started playing, he knew what was
involved and how unsettled the life of a
player was.
“He tried to push me in other directions
but I was laying down my own foundations
in the game and he’s proud of where I am
now.
“I played all sorts of sports as a kid,
fortunately my first real break came playing
cricket so I took it. I’ve not looked back
once for the last ten years.”
For one blessed with natural athleticism
and talent,Wessels added that he had
always been driven into sport, at least
following in his father’s footsteps to that
extent.
After impressing in his formative years
in a number of disciplines, it isn’t just
cricket which holds a special place in his
heart.Through the winterWessels plays
hockey to a good standard alongside
Nottinghamshire captain Chris Read,
and its influence is evident inWessels’ low
“Lord’s is always special. There’s
a picture of my father right
outside the away dressing room
scoring his hundred at Lord’s,
and his name is on the honours
board too. It’s amazing really.”