Dane Paterson and the value of control in SA's pace pack

Pace. Bounce. Swing. Seam. Oh, and spin. Lots of it. Apparently.

Of all the words being used in the pre-series talk ahead of the much-anticipated three-Test series between South Africa and Australia, there's perhaps one missing: control. And that's where Dane Paterson could come in.

"I've shown I can play a role. And also, our roles might differ. I might be a holding bowler, like when I was initially selected," Paterson told Cricinfo at the Western Province Cobras season launch at Newlands last month. "Shuks (Conrad, the national head coach) knows what he can get out of me."

At the time, Kagiso Rabada's injury was known but not his timeline for return (which could be as early as next week), and none of Lungi Ngidi, Kwena Maphaka or Otttneil Baartman had gone down with hamstring niggles. Then, Paterson had merely "been spoken to," by the national team management and told them what anyone who wants to keep playing international cricket would. "I'm available. I'm always waiting for the call and I'm always ready. Shuks knows that and the hierarchy knows that."

Since then, Conrad and co have made the call and included Paterson in their preliminary squad for the first time in this World Test Championship (2025-2027) cycle. Considering the depletion to South Africa's resources, the proliferation of high pace in the form of Marco Jansen, Corbin Bosch, Gerald Coetzee and Anrich Nortje and the venues the matches will be played on - all coastal - Paterson's chances of making the final 15-player group are high, and they should be.

It's worth remembering that Paterson is the most successful seamer in first-class cricket in South Africa's history, with 444 wickets from 126 matches. Only three bowlers have more wickets than that, and two of them, Simon Harmer and Keshav Maharaj, are also in South Africa's Test squad. Adding Paterson would give a certain gravitas to a pace pack of young pups, so to speak, and fill an experience gap that could prove crucial.

Though Paterson has just seven Test caps to his name, he has a 17-year professional career in which he has reinvented himself. His four years at Nottinghamshire, where he took 180 wickets in 45 matches, helped him develop the ability to move the ball late and was what ultimately earned him his international recall under Conrad in February 2024.

Paterson played in the New Zealand series that South Africa all-but-forfeited when they were forced to send an understrength side to compete because their main players had to honour SA20 deals. But it was 10 months later, that he really made his mark. He took five for 71 in the first innings against Sri Lanka at St George's Park to put South Africa on course to win a match they had to stay in contention for the 2025 WTC final. Then, he took 5 for 61 in the Boxing Day Test against Pakistan in Centurion, the match South Africa won to qualify for the WTC final.

Despite 12 wickets in two Tests, Paterson did not play the New Year's match which followed as Kwena Maphaka was chosen to debut instead. Six months later, despite his record in the county championship, Paterson was not in the XI that played the WTC final, with Lungi Ngidi preferred for pace and variation. Though disappointed, Paterson says he "understood" why the selection call went against him. "It's a final, so just one game. You can't cry about it. At the end of the day, it was the right call. I am a team player so I understood. We made history, so it was the right call."

And when Paterson got his hands on the mace, part of it felt like it belonged to him too?

"One hundred percent it did. Everybody in that squad made an effort. No one could feel as though they didn't have an input in the results. In the pre-season, I was with Senuran Muhtusamy (who was also in the squad but not the playing XI) and we spoke about it and we just agreed that we made an impact too. That's what makes it quite cool."

Talk at that time was that Paterson, who was 35, would retire from international cricket but with tours to the subcontinent later in 2025, his name was mentioned. In the end, he was not in South Africa's squad for either the Pakistan or India series. He didn't return to Notts over the winter either and after playing two matches for South Africa A against the England Lions in May, had a full three months off from playing.

"I've been having a proper off-season," Paterson said. "I've been helping the youngsters, working on their action, doing a bit of my own strength work and a bit of coaching. I actually really enjoyed the off-season. It was nice to be properly at home."

He has also found himself in a leadership role for his domestic team, who have a clutch of young quicks including 18-year-old Michael Kruiskamp, 20-year-old Raeeq Daniels and 21-year-old Oliver Whitehead in their ranks. All three featured in the season opening red-ball game against the Warriors where Paterson put in a marathon stint and bowled 27 overs in the first innings and nine in the second and conceded at 2.8 runs an over. The following week, against the Dolphins, Paterson took the first and last wicket in the first innings as Cobras set up their first win of the summer and he has committed to going up for a few more.