Boy wonder

The first bowler Wayne Parnell saw bowl live was Ashish Nehra. The young Eastern Cape hopeful was mesmerised by the man from Delhi. Apart from also being a fellow left-armer, Nehra had the ability to move the ball off the wicket, which caught Parnell's eye. The new nut swung as though it was dancing to a tune only it could hear, being played by Nehra himself. He changed his line and length ever so slightly, was accurate and pacy, and had an inswinger to behold. Parnell just may have seen a little bit of himself in Nehra.

Although Parnell has been in England recently, playing for Kent, he hasn't lost sight of the first international bowler he watched. In fact, Parnell must have been watching Nehra extra closely during the IPL: he looks just as devastating in the World Twenty20 as Nehra was for the Delhi Daredevils in the IPL. Such has been Parnell's rise to prominence that it's difficult to believe that as little as 18 months ago he was captaining his school team.

Parnell wasn't just any other schoolboy. At 15 he was selected for the South African Under-19 team to play in the World Cup in Sri Lanka. South Africa had a mediocre tournament, losing to Nepal in the plate semi-final. Two years later he returned to captain the team. This time it was different. He led his team to the final (which they lost to India by 12 runs on the Duckworth-Lewis method) and his individual performances helped him make a name for himself.

His voice changes when he speaks of his most special memory of that World Cup. The serious Parnell becomes reminiscent, like a young child recalling his favourite ice-cream. "The standout performance for me was the quarter-final against Bangladesh. I scored 57 and took six wickets for eight runs and we won that match by a huge margin [201 runs]. That is a very special memory for me."

That match-winning performance and his leadership skills throughout the competition all but guaranteed Parnell a career in cricket. By then his life had already significantly changed because of the sport. Parnell discovered he could bowl when he was just seven. He was playing in a game of mini-cricket and hit a batsman with a bouncer, leaving the poor child with a bloodied nose. Parnell continued playing cricket and a host of other sports while in primary school.

Christo Esau, the Youth Coach of Eastern Province Cricket, was instrumental in Parnell being awarded a scholarship to Grey College, a respected sporting school, where his cricket could develop the most. That's exactly what happened. "There were a few matches where I took all 10 wickets," Parnell says. After a string of good performances Parnell decided cricket was where his future firmly lay. The only hurdle in his path was a logistical one. Parnell was unable to attend some of the practices for the Eastern Province team because his parents' house was too far away from St George's Park. A solution was not far away, though. "My English teacher, Lyn Sjoberg, suggested I move in with her, since her children were not living at home anymore, and she only lived about three minutes from the stadium," Parnell says. "So that's what I did."

The move was fruitful, and soon Parnell earned a first-class call-up to the Eastern Province side. From there his U-19 success followed and he was selected to play for the South African Emerging side in Australia late last year. Parnell's record in first-class cricket is not very glamorous: he has taken 37 wickets at an average of 31.29 and has a batting average of 20.23. The longer version of the game is not Parnell's focus at the moment, and he's made no secret of his enjoyment for limited-overs cricket. "I prefer the shorter version of the game," he says, "especially since I haven't played that many first-class games."

Parnell and his Warriors team mate Lonwabo Tsotsobe, another left-arm seamer, were called up to South Africa's ODI side to face Australia in January this year. Both had mediocre performances Down Under, but an injury to Tsotsobe paved the way for Parnell to establish himself as the first-choice left-arm pacer in the South African line-up. He shared the new ball with Dale Steyn in the home ODI series against Australia, and that's where he announced his arrival. In the second ODI, in Centurion, Parnell ripped through the Australian attack, taking four for 25, including the wicket he regards as his most prized. "Michael Hussey's wicket is the best I have taken so far. All my team-mates tell me it should be Ricky Ponting, but I've always thought of Hussey as a really good batsman, so that's my most valuable wicket."

Parnell finished the series having earned himself a place in South Africa's World Twenty20 squad. He had played in England before, on a school tour, and went into the competition confident of his ability. "The wickets are softer in England, so the ball swings more, and I can use that to my advantage." Yusuf Abdulla's success for Kings XI Punjab in the IPL may have given the selectors a pleasant dilemma in deciding which left-arm seam bowler to opt for, and going by the results so far, they will be pleased with their decision.

Just like Nehra, Parnell is starting to make the ball dance to his own tune. His bowling at the death has been deadly. He whipped out the big guns against England and West Indies, taking 3 for 14 and 4 for 13. In the six matches Parnell has played in the World Twenty20, he has taken 10 wickets, at an average of 16.60. More importantly, he has achieved his goal of cementing his place in South Africa's limited-overs side. Perhaps it's Nehra who will start watching Parnell from now on.