Andre Nel: Former fiery fast bowler returns to action in Essex League

Andre Nel played his final first-class match for Surrey in July 2010

There was a time when Andre Nel was one of the most feared and unpredictable fast bowlers in world cricket.

The South African blamed his aggressive on-field behaviour on an alter ego called Gunther.

He once told the BBC: "Gunther lives in the mountains in Germany. When he was a kid, there was a lack of oxygen going to his brain, so something went wrong in his mind."

Now 45, Nel has joined Chelmsford Cricket Club and made his debut in a second XI game against Upminster last weekend.

For a player with 446 first-class wickets, 123 of them in Test matches, figures of 0-22 from seven overs may suggest that Gunther has calmed down a little bit.

"My mind wants to get angry but my body can't back it up and it's pointless now," Nel told BBC Essex.

"People might say things [to me] and hit me for four but I've got nothing to prove. I played international cricket, for me it's [now about] the pleasure and privilege of helping the youngsters and making them better."

Shaking up England at Centurion

'Gunther' gives Andrew Strauss the eye during a Test at Edgbaston in 2008

Nel made his Test debut against Zimbabwe in 2001, the same year when he revealed a softer side by being reduced to tears after knocking out Allan Donald with a bouncer during a provincial game.

But it was four years later that he made England sit up and take notice with first-innings figures of 6-81 in a drawn match at Centurion, when his victims included Andrew Strauss and Graham Thorpe.

He did not face England again until the very end of his Test career when he again dismissed Strauss, along with Alastair Cook and then captain Michael Vaughan at Edgbaston on the opening day to help the Proteas to a five-wicket win.

It was a different story in his final Test at The Oval when he was wicketless as England turned the tables with a six-wicket victory.

Nel's international career also included 106 wickets in 70 one-day internationals and two T20 appearances and he also played county cricket for Northamptonshire, Essex and Surrey.

Following the end of his playing career, he had a three-year spell as assistant head coach with Essex, during which they achieved a County Championship and T20 Blast double in 2019 and lifted the Bob Willis Trophy the following year.

He left the club following the 2021 season and since then has been coaching at the National Fast Bowling Academy, based at Sawbridgeworth in Hertfordshire and the England Over-40 team.

• Listen to full BBC Essex Around The Wicket interview with Andre Nel

So what made him decide to start playing again?

"I didn't expect to be playing a lot of cricket at all. I think it started in January when I entered the London Marathon and started getting fit," he said.

And when his daughter had decided to have a go at cricket, and he had been recruited as an umpire because he knew "most of the rules", Nel couldn't resist getting stuck into the action himself.

Andre Nel with head coach Anthony McGrath after joining his team in 2019

He was also feeling a little bored, but only agreed to turn out for Chelmsford on certain conditions.

"I said I'll be interested in playing as long as they don't expect me to bowl all the overs, do all of the batting - not take a position off the youngsters - but to play with the youngsters and help them as much as possible," he explained.

Nel did his bowling in a single spell and although wicketless, he did take two catches as Upminster made 213-7 after batting first.

He later weighed in a with a Bazball-style 23 off 19 balls, with a six and two fours, but Chelmsford were bowled out for 138 to lose by 75 runs.

"I bowled seven overs on the trot and the next couple of days I was pretty sore and stiff," he said.

"I bowled far too short and my timing was slightly off with my wrist and where it should be, but the biggest thing was I fielded mid-on and mid-off and spoke to some of the youngsters bowling and that's the reason I started, it's not about me performing as such, I just want to help cricketers in general and it's a great opportunity for me to do it on the field.

"Just talking them through constructing their overs, telling them what to do, to see what the batsman's feet are doing so you can change your game plan, that's the thing I enjoyed the most."

'My daughter thinks I'm pretty useless'

The Nel family are now based in England and considering making it their permanent home.

He hopes his work at the NFBA will lead to another coaching opportunity at a higher level. Meanwhile, living in Essex in theory gives him plenty of opportunity to follow the fortunes of the county where he played and coached.

"I'm probably not the best watcher of cricket because you always over analyse as a coach or as a player you always think you can do better, so it's better to look with a lazy eye, you watch but you don't watch properly," he added.

Former South Africa captain Graeme Smith once suggested that Nel had a "screw loose".

But the bowler from Germiston in the Transvaal never cared about the verbals that sometimes came his way in international cricket, saying: "The more they wind you up and the more they abuse you the more it fires me up to do better."

There is, though, one opinion that does touch a nerve - that of his daughter.

"She played hockey and other sports but when she decided to play cricket I was slightly excited but didn't want to push her too hard," he explained.

"I told her 'I'd love to help you' but I'd retired when she was born, so she thinks I'm pretty useless. She's never seen me play so it would be nice for her to come [to Chelmsford] and have a look.

"I think I can bowl OK-ish, it might not be the same but it would be nice for her to see her dad has a little bit of talent at least."

Andre Nel was speaking to BBC Essex's Victoria Polley