Piet Rinke is a stocky medium-pace bowler who can swing the ball both ways, and an opening batsman who was surprisingly called up to the national side in 2006 even though he not played cricket locally since he appeared for Matabeleland in 2003-04. He was a graduate from the CFX Academy in 2002, but confined himself to club cricket after his national contract was not renewed. Although by no means an opening batsman in first-class cricket, he made a reputation for himself in that role in the shorter version of the game, with his powerful hitting that is capable of shredding opening attacks at local level within a few overs. After the player rebellion, he offered his services to coach Kevin Curran, expressing his wish to return to fulltime cricket, and soon proved his value locally. He scored well against Kenya and then in warm-up matches in the Caribbean, scoring two centuries, but against West Indies his limited technique was cruelly exposed and he made 23 runs in six innings. He struggled against the quick bowlers and had a tendency to play across the line, which often led to his downfall. However, he has shown a good attitude and is working hard to overcome his technical deficiencies. He was not fully fit on tour, but has since lost weight and is taking steps to improve his fielding, which was found wanting at times on tour.
Steven Price September 2006

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Oct 10, 2006 Piet Rinke: right shot, wrong line © AFP

Jul 30, 2006 Piet Rinke barks out an appeal © AFP

May 16, 2006 Piet Rinke hits over the top on his way to 72 © International Cricket Council

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