Around 13 years ago, Alan Alexander, a passionate cricket lover, who did a bit of talent-spotting and coaching, asked me if I could spare five minutes from my duties as Cricket Boland CEO, to have a look at a batsman in our indoor nets.

I had no hesitation because I knew how dead serious Alan was about cricket development. When we reached the nets, I saw a kid taking balls from his dad. It turned out to be Petersen Jr and Sr, who had played U-21 cricket for Western Province during the apartheid years. After seeing Keegan bat for 10 minutes, I was convinced that I’ve watched a future star. I remember saying then that we had to create an opportunity for Keegan to play a game. Fortunately, the Surrey academy team were touring our part of the world and were scheduled to play a game at Paarl in two weeks’ time.