C365 Exclusive With Monde Zondeki

Zondeki - disappointed not to get a Test in England.

Jonhenry Wilson chatted to South African speedster Monde Zondeki about being on tour in England, life at Warwickshire, missing out on Champs Trophy selection and heading Down Under.

You didn't play a Test while on tour in England recently, but how much can you learn by just being a part of the touring squad?
I certainly enjoyed the tour even though I didn't play a Test. It was good to be a part of the squad. After winning the series, it was a good changing room to be in, a good vibe. I'm still learning about bowling.

I'm only 26. There is a lot for me to still learn and I picked up a couple of things, namely playing in England where conditions are very different to South African pitches. You learn how to bowl on different surfaces all over the world. You learn everywhere you go. I did learn a little bit but not too much.

Did you expect a game in the fourth Test, at least?
I was a little bit disappointed. We had a meeting after winning the series and decided we didn't want to take the fourth Test lightly. The selectors didn't want to make any changes.

I thus knew I wasn't going to play but I was disappointed because I was bowling pretty well at the time and I was feeling really good. It would have been nice to get a run. It is frustrating when you go on tour for so long and you don't get a chance to play. But I understood the situation and it was not such a big issue.

What's your take on England's struggling bowling attack?
I have no idea where they are getting it wrong. There's probably something on the inside there. [Darren Pattinson] was a bit of a funny, weird selection. We expected somebody else to come in when Ryan Sidebottom was injured.

Nobody knew much about Pattinson. I don't know how it happened but they probably got it wrong and they probably know it too.

And Makhaya Ntini's topsy-turvy tour of England?
In the last Test match he really bowled well. He struggled a little bit at the start of the series but he got better and better the more he bowled. In the last Test he was the old Makhaya Ntini we all know.

It's good that he is back and bowling really well. He worked really hard and he is back to his best which is really good for us. We want to keep our pace attack sharp.

Back home and resting, but how's your body holding up after the lengthy period abroad?
The body is doing fine.

The groin was the only problem I had before I went to England but everything is doing fine now.

Tell us about your time with Warwickshire before the England tour...
I wasn't there for as much as I thought I would have been. The injury and being picked for South Africa shortened my stint there. My six weeks there was a good experience. I got a sense for how conditions are. As I said, wherever you go you learn.

Playing in England is a bit different to playing at home. I got a bit of experience on English pitches. I didn't really suck up as much as I would have liked. We did really well in the four-day games and I took a couple of wickets. I would liked to have stayed longer to have taken in more experience. They didn't have a lot of experience in terms of seam bowlers that's why they looked to bring in another, me.

The guys I was playing with were my age or younger. There wasn't much I could learn from them but I tried to get as much as I could from Allan Donald.

What are your views on the amount of Kolpak players doing the rounds on the English county circuit...
It has quite an effect on South Africa. There are a lot of senior, old guys, who are very experienced that do go play as Kolpak players.

Obviously, there are a lot of young guys going over too. It's a big effect. We need the older guys in our domestic system to help the younger guys get through. Compared to England, they've got a lot of old guys playing there and we are very young in terms of our players' ages. So, we are affected in that way. The younger guys are left to learn by themselves.

You weren't picked for the Champions Trophy, but would you have gone had you been selected?
If Cricket South Africa say we're going, then we're going. It's that simple, really.

I don't think you'll have players pulling out on personal terms. Obviously all the conditions are checked and if they say we go, we go.

When/if you do get back in the starting line-up, fancy making a contribution with the bat like Stuart Broad does for England?
I've been a bit lazy in the past with my batting. At the moment I'm working pretty hard in the nets.

I have had a lot of time off to work on a couple of aspects. I haven't taken it as seriously as I should have because I know I can bat a bit. In the future I plan to work really hard on it. I can be disciplined. I can bat higher in the order.

What's on the cards for you and the team come the Aussie tour?
They've got really good pitches. They've got good pace. Australia is similar to our conditions but their pitches are pretty true, hard and fast, good for batting and bowling.

We know what to expect when we go there. Hopefully, we have a really good tour. As an individual, I'll be working hard in the build-up to make the squad and then even harder to make the starting XI.

What would be your ultimate five-man bowling attack? Yourself and...
You need two quality spinners in your team. It would have been nice to have bowled with Muttiah Muralitharan and Shane Warne. Pace attack - Allan Donald. He is sort of a hero to us, or to me in any case. I did play with him toward the end of his career but it would have been nice to play with him at his peak.

Then, Shaun Pollock or Glenn McGrath. They sort of balance it out because they do a very good job with their length, allowing other bowlers to attack. And they take wickets at the same time.

And three wickets you count as very prized scalps?
Jacques Kallis - the premier batsman in the world at the moment. Ricky Ponting and Kevin Pietersen.

Jonhenry Wilson