Cobras four-day captain Dane Piedt says his ambition remains steadfast on playing for the Proteas, writes KHALID MOHIDIN.

The 28-year-old had a short stint of seven Tests for the national side, making his debut against Zimbabwe in Harare on 9 August 2014. He had an incredible match, in a time the Proteas struggled to find decent spinners, taking 4-90 in the first innings and 4-62 in the second as the Proteas eased past the hosts by nine wickets.

His next match for his country took place a year and a bit later when the Proteas travelled to India in 2015 for a four-match series. Despite the Proteas being dominated 3-0, Piedt played the final Test and took 4-117 in the first innings in a 337-run victory for the hosts. This followed with three Tests at home against England during the end-of-year series in 2015-16, where he took nine wickets that included his best figures of 5-153 in the opening Test in Durban.

His last series was against New Zealand in late August 2016, where he took a wicket in each innings of the second Test in Centurion.

Since then, Piedt has struggled to find his way back on the national team’s radar, with Keshav Maharaj stepping up for the Proteas to become their No 1 choice in red-ball cricket.

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With Titans spinner Tabraiz Shamsi and Shaun von Berg receiving their call-ups for South Africa’s tour of Sri Lanka, Piedt seems to have fallen lower down the pecking order.

He replied with steady performances for South Africa A and as skipper of the Cobras, which he believes will drop his name back into the conversation.

‘My main ambition is to play for South Africa. There was a lot of Kolpak talk around me but my main aim is to get back into the team. I was close to doing it [signing a Kolpak deal] but at the end of the day I have that ambition again to play for South Africa and that is my drive to get back there,’ he told SACricketmag.com

‘This will also drive me to want to win games for the team. I feel fit and healthy, where last year I was playing with a knee niggle throughout the whole of last season. I’m feeling ready for the season. I can’t wait until 1 October against the Knights, I really want to get this team going in the right direction again and I’m really confident that we [the Cobras] have the capabilities of doing that. I’m very excited to get out there and play.’