Modern Athlete Magazine Issue 61, August 2014 | Page 19

running & sport

Faf: It is one of the tougher arms of our schedule.
The travelling also becomes intense. You are away
from family and friends for two months at a time and
spend a lot of it in the hotel. Luckily, my wife Imari
travels with me. It is an exhilarating experience, but
after a week or two you need your privacy!
Nicole:

What does your training entail? Is there
time for any cross-training in your busy schedule?

Faf: Luckily for us we play so much that the regular
games cover our fitness. I do have a light gym routine
as anything strenuous will limit my performance on
‘game day.’ During the off-season I do more crosstraining, with short, intense sprints on the treadmill to
increase my explosive power, and on the odd occasion
I swim to keep pressure off my joints.
Lauren: How are you feeling about the World Cup
next year?

Faf: We just finished the Twenty20 World Cup in
Bangladesh where we made the semi-finals but lost
to India. I am excited about the upcoming campaign,
and we will be involving the fans with the team a
lot more. We are playing some superb cricket at the
moment, but we need to get the ‘monkey’ off our
backs when it comes to World Cup cricket… there is
no pressure during the year, but when we get to the
World Cup, it all becomes rather overwhelming.
Nicole: Do the three individual captains work
together in the different formats?
Faf:

AB and I grew up together, which makes it easy
and natural for us to be in a partnership. Hashim
has just been appointed and we will support him
as much as we can. I am looking forward to seeing
what he brings to the team. We have lost a lot of
key, experienced players recently, so your medium
experienced guys like myself need to step up now.
The nice thing is that we are all close as a team, in a
nice relaxed environment, and we’re just trying to win
games together.

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