Lizaad Williams gets started with a 'Thank You'

Lizaad Williams paints the same two words on the outfield to mark the start of his run-up before every game he plays. The words are not his name, nor the name of his inspiration as a player - Dale Steyn - nor any two words most of us might think of. Instead, they are these words: "Thank you."

Why? "It's about being thankful for every opportunity I get to play, whether it's club cricket or whatever level," Williams said in an audio file released by CSA on Tuesday. "I'm just thankful to play the game of cricket."

Williams used do his paintwork in Boland, on outfields that featured the matches of the Vredenburg Saldanha Cricket Club. But in his last two games he's been able to give thanks at the Wanderers as part of South Africa's XI in their T20I series against Pakistan. He struggled with line and length on Friday, going for 39 runs in 3.5 overs for the reward of Faheem Ashraf's wicket.

"The biggest thing was having clarity in my mind, to make sure I commit 100% to the ball and don't think too far ahead," he said. "In the first game I was a bit caught up in the ball I wanted to deliver."