‘Special feeling’ to get to 300th milestone – Morkel

Morne Morkel started the Test series against Australia with 294 wickets against his name and the announcement that the four fixtures would be his last for South Africa. Over four Tests, if he got to be on the field, chances of him crossing the 300-wicket mark were always high, and he got there on Friday 23 March, on the second day of the third Test, with Shaun Marsh’s scalp.

As always with Morkel, there was a concern that it might have been a no-ball, and the beanpole paceman had to wait for the check before celebrating. It got the thumbs-up, and Australia were 150/4. They ended the day at Newlands in Cape Town on 245/9 in reply to South Africa’s 311, with Morkel returning 4/87.

“It's a special feeling, especially because I am the world record holder for the most (wickets off) no-balls,” acknowledged Morkel after the day’s play. “When I got the first one (Usman Khawaja), I had to turn around and see if it was a legal delivery. And then second one (Steve Smith) and third one. To reach it is something I have worked hard on for a long time and to get it at this amazing venue made it even better.

“It meant quite a lot to get that wicket. I have really worked hard. I wasn't blessed with natural talent to run up and hit a length. For me, over the 12 years, it's been a lot of hard work. To get that was an achievement, I was proud of myself to get that milestone.”

In the earlier Test against India at Newlands, Morkel picked up four wickets over two innings as South Africa won by 72 runs on what was a tough pitch to bat on. It has been comparatively better for batsmen this time, but Morkel has been able to get more out of the pitch.

“Of late, the Newlands wicket, there is a little bit of extra bounce. There was a little bit of extra bounce on a fifth stump line. It was my game plan to run in and hit an area quite hard, and try to get some extra bounce. There were one or two cracks as well,” said Morkel, who ended the day on 301 wickets, having added Nathan Lyon to his list of victims by the end of the day.

Most Test wickets by South African bowlers

In Dale Steyn’s injury-enforced absence, Kagiso Rabada and Vernon Philander are the two main pacers for South Africa, and Lungi Ngidi appears to have leapfrogged Morkel in the pecking order, meaning the 33-year-old might not have figured in South Africa’s plans had Ngidi not hurt a toe before the second Test, played in Durban.

“Luckily for me, I got an opportunity with Lungi picking up a small niggle and I knew it was my Test match to do it. I put in a lot of hard work over the week, I sat down for hours and analysed my Durban spells and things I needed to improve on and worked hard,” said Morkel.

At the time of announcing his retirement, Morkel had said that he wanted to be part of a South African side that got the better of Australia at home, something that last happened in 1970. Since Morkel has been around, Australia have visited three times prior to the latest occasion, with South Africa drawing the series 1-1 in 2011 but losing 2-1 in 2009 and 2014.

This time, it’s 1-1, and Morkel was relishing the prospect of leaving the game on a high. “There's still a second innings, a Test match to be won and still one more in Jo'burg and that's my focus,” he said. “I want to be part of this team to beat Australia for the first time in South Africa. That's my goal. My body is still feeling great. Mentally I am still feeling fantastic. I am still feeling good. I can still play for a couple of years.

“But I've made that (retirement) call. Once you've made your mind up, you can't really turn back on your decision. I'd rather go out on a high now than having a few average games and the love is gone.”