MAYBE it’s the curly bleached blond hair that fights to be seen under his baggy green Proteas cap. Or the elongated, almost stoned tempo of his voice.
There certainly is a feeling that Tristan Stubbs would be much more at home surfing some waves with his university mates in Jeffreys Bay than chasing down balls to the boundary in the midday Caribbean heat.
Having been born in Knysna, before moving to Gqeberha, Stubbs’ love for the ocean is comprehensible as he still hops onto a board whenever he’s back at his digs in the Eastern Cape – if he’s not hitting the fairways on the golf course.
But Stubbs, of course, plays cricket for a living – one that rewards him handsomely, but also keeps him on the road for long periods of time.
Just this year, he’s already spent six weeks in India playing in the Indian Premier League, a month in the US during the T20 World Cup, and has been in the Caribbean for almost as long as he can remember.
It’s a schedule that forced his fellow Sunrisers Eastern Cape and Proteas teammate Marco Jansen, who, like Stubbs, is also still only 24 and has a similar itinerary, to take time out to recharge and refine some things before the home summer.
With the range of all-round skills that Stubbs possesses – he is able to hit a long ball, bowl tidy off-spinners and keep wicket – there will be few who would begrudge him if he solely chose the financially lucrative white-ball route in the near future.
However, that’s not how Stubbs sees things, especially after recently being earmarked as the Proteas Test No 3 by red-ball coach Shukri Conrad.
“I do (want to play all three formats). I enjoy red-ball cricket, it’s the most satisfying. It was hard, but I enjoyed it (playing Test cricket),” Stubbs said yesterday from Trinidad ahead of tomorrow’s first T20I against the West Indies.
“I really enjoyed the challenge (batting at No 3). Glad I could see that I could do it in the future. I have a lot of work to do, though, because that red ball moves a lot more than the white ball.
🇿🇦 We are back Trinidad! 🇹🇹
— Proteas Men (@ProteasMenCSA) August 21, 2024
Our players departed for the Brian Lara Cricket Academy Stadium in Trinidad, ahead of their T20 Series.🏏#WozaNawe #BePartOfIt#SAvWI pic.twitter.com/3mRjGjochf
“But I do look at management. Obviously, you plan the year and I didn’t imagine it going this way. I had the CPL (Caribbean Premier League) booked in for this month, not thinking I would play as much as I have.
“So, I think going forward, if all goes to plan, it’ll hopefully just be the Proteas, the SA20 and the IPL if you’re playing all three formats.
“I think that’s the way it has to go, because you need time off... otherwise you’re just playing all the time.”
While Stubbs portrays quite the laid-back demeanour off the field, he transforms into a fierce competitor after crossing the rope.
He lives every ball and is emotionally involved, especially when sitting in the dug-out watching his teammates after being dismissed.
It therefore stands to reason that he still feels the hurt of the T20 World Cup final defeat to India in Barbados, although he’s happy to be back in Tarouba – the scene of the Proteas’ first-ever World Cup semi-final victory.
“I think the whole World Cup was a good experience for myself and the team. We found ways to win, which I think is an underrated skill, just being able to win ugly. I think as a team, we can take a lot from that; it gives us a lot of character,” he said.
“The World Cup final will come up when you don’t want it to. I’ve tried my best to forget about it. It wasn’t easy, and it still is not easy getting asked about it.
“Coming back to the Caribbean, you get reminded about it. But fortunately we are playing where we won the semi-final, so there’s a bit of good vibes there,” he added.