Nothing simple about Simon

Simon on an NMMU banner

I first met Simon on a paper bag. Yes, a paper bag. And not the Simple Simon of pie man lore, but Simon Harmer of Proteas spinner cricketing fame.

In 2010, he was simply a Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University (NMMU) student beaming out from one of the institution’s branded paper bags – a good-looking young man in NMMU cricketing gear; a couple of years later I spotted him hanging about our workplace - along with two dozen or so other NMMU student ambassadors - on a branded airflow banner.

And then voila, Simon of paper bag and banner fame came to life as the Madibaz cricketer who made a highly successful debut as a Proteas Test player at Newlands, Cape Town, early this year.

The blond “pin-up” of our marketing materials had morphed into a national superstar spinner taking seven wickets in his first appearance for the Proteas in the New Year Test.

What a joy to witness!

Today, NMMU honoured Simon’s triumph in being selected as a Proteas player at an intimate lunch-time event. He’s the first Madibaz cricketer from our 10-year-old institution to have been selected to the Proteas Test squad. (We have had others who have been similarly honoured in other formats of the game including Wayne Parnell and Ashwell Prince).

Simon was presented with a mounted selection of photographs capturing his “magic moments” from that first Test.

And we – NMMU staff and the media – were presented with a glimpse of the not-so-simple Simon.

“There’s nothing simple about Simon. He’s affable. He’s articulate. He’s smart,” Madibaz Cricket Club president Gary Paul shared.

“He’s been developed holistically. He’s a role model. He can make statements about life, not just sport”.

Agreed.

Simon received this montage capturing his "magic moments"

But while Groot Rooi, as he is affectionately known on his Twitter handle, is destined for great things (he jets out of the country on Friday as part of the SA A cricket squad to play England in a one-day series), he’s not forgotten his roots – his parents, who moved from Pretoria to Port Elizabeth 18 months ago to support him, nor the university who gave him the opportunity to get to where he is today.

“If I hadn’t come to NMMU, I would probably only being playing club cricket in Pretoria and working as a lawyer.”

Sadly, cricketing commitments meant he was unable to complete his BCom Law degree, but he is grateful for the cricketing support he received from NMMU, and especially the likes of staff like Riaan Osman, Baakier Abrahams, Shafiek Abrahams and Kotie Grove.

“I was well looked after. Thank you!”

And thank you, Simon, for honouring your alma mater – and for bringing all those paper bags and our wall hanging to life!