Simon Harmer’s Proteas Test cap not yet ready for the beach bar ...

Cape Town - “There is no bullshit, no politics.”

This was Simon Harmer’s quite emotive feelings back in 2019 about playing cricket in the United Kingdom in comparison to South Africa.

The world has certainly changed considerably in the intervening years. Covid-19 had not enveloped us yet, and everything that it affected, but more specifically for Harmer and his fellow Kolpak cricketers, England were still part of the European Union.

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And then “Brexit” happened two years ago on February 1, 2022 with the resultant effect that the door was now closed on many disgruntled cricketers from South Africa finding employment in the UK as a Kolpak.

Harmer was one of the lucky ones though. Due to his unbridled success achieved at Essex since joining the Chelmsford-based County in east London in 2017, he was able to secure a new deal as an overseas player.

The new regulations, however, also meant that Harmer was now available for Proteas selection again if he chose to return home to play domestic cricket in the English winter. But why would Harmer, now 32, come back to a country where he supposedly “fell out of love” with the game?

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“The one thing I have come to realise getting a bit older is that things change very quickly. One day, you could be sitting very frustrated at not knowing where you are, and the next you can be in an international environment,” Harmer said from New Zealand, where he is now part of the Proteas Test squad again for the first time since 2015.

“Obviously coming back and being allowed to play cricket in South Africa again … I have