Less than 12 months ago Craig Matthews was vice-captain of South Africa's national cricket team.
At the end of an injury-disrupted season he was only offered a short-term contract to the end of this year to prove that he still has a future at national level.
How did he react to that? "To be honest, it came as a pleasant surprise. I wasn't really holding out hope for a contract. I felt I would have to force my way back in from the outside. It is great to know that the UCB, or the selectors, or whoever take those decisions, still have a degree of faith in me."
Will this give a fresh impetus to his season? "I don't think I need a lot of encouragement. I felt at the end of last season that I was playing well again and that I still had something to offer at international level but it is obviously a bit of a boost.
"Everybody has a season like I had last year at some time, particularly with the amount of cricket we play now. But my problems were purely injury-related. It was not as if my body felt tired or anything like that.
"I am really feeling fresh as the new summer approaches, so in retrospect I may end up saying that the year off did me a lot of good.
What sort of targets is Matthews setting for himself? "Just looking at the season, I have always believed that the way back is that if you want to play provincial cricket, then you have to perform at club level, and, if you want to play at national level, then the same thing applies in provincial cricket."
Date-stamped : 07 Oct97 - 18:10
Contributed by the Western Province Cricket Association (wpca@cricinfo.com)