Andries Gous of USA is the highest profile associate player in T20 cricket. The 32-year-old, a dashing wicketkeeper-batsman, has appeared in the PSL, CPL and ILT20, as well as being one of the faces of the MLC in the United States. Most recently, in the ILT20, he hit an unbeaten 120 off 58 balls, the highest individual score in the league, to put Desert Vipers on the path to their first title.
His form for the USA in the 2026 T20 World Cup has not been as spectacular and he has also suffered from illness. But USA coach Pubudu Dassanayake is hopeful of regaining his T20 trump card for the high-stakes clash against Namibia in Chennai on Sunday. Gous, who was born in Welkom in South Africa’s Free State province and played at national level in Bloemfontein before moving to the United States in 2021, will meet some familiar faces on Sunday.
Among those familiar faces is his former roommate and South African Under-19 teammate Jan Frylinck, who is now among Namibia’s most experienced players.
“Jan Frylinck was my roommate (laughs). I’m also good friends with the Namibian captain. [Gerhard Erasmus]”Gous tells ESPNcricinfo on the eve of the USA’s match against Namibia. He is the only Namibian player who plays franchise tournaments around the world, so we see each other a lot. The Namibian team used to play in South Africa as the home team.
“There are some new guys now, but there are still some guys I played against. It’s going to be exciting. They’ll have something to prove too and I think it’ll be a really good game. I have a lot of respect for them – Namibia is always a tough fighter.”
The respect will be mutual. When Gous played in South Africa, his range was limited, but exposure to different conditions has elevated his game to a new level. Apart from the aforementioned T20 gigs, he trained with the Sydney Sixers and Sydney Thunder Big Bash teams in Australia and worked with former India batsman Pravin Amre during a three-week batting camp in Mumbai.
“I’ve been lucky, especially from an associate’s point of view, to play in most of the leagues in the world,” Gous says. “As for MLC, my coach is Ricky Ponting. I don’t think there is anyone better at batting than him. And then there is in Vipers we had Neil McKenzie, James Foster, Tom Moody. So, I mean, there is the experience and the world-class players themselves.
“You just look at other sports in America where you feel cricket can make an upward curve and be successful. I’ve always thought America was that place.”
Andries Gous at MLC
“He [Behind-the-wicket] shooting is something I have had to improve. Now I play a lot of T20 cricket everywhere. So you have to find ways to score a lot of runs and people block you in some places. So you just have to find new ways to get points and new ways to be effective and have an impact. “You just have to learn new things and try to stay ahead.”
Gous’s newfound ability to access areas behind the wicket was especially highlighted during his century in the ILT20 Qualifier 1 against MI Emirates. He scored 31 off eight balls in those areas, against an attack that included two mystery spinners: AM Ghazanfar and Arab Gul, who is a clone of Rashid Khan.
“I don’t think it’s the first time I’ve faced Ghazanfar either,” Gous says. “I faced him, I’m not sure if it was before in T10 or somewhere else. Then obviously we had some footage of Arab Gul that day. So we knew what he was going to do. But I mean, just in my team, we had Noor Ahmad, we had Usman Tariq and Qais Ahmad. So I had enough mystery just in my team to face me in the nets as well (laughs). It’s just about not thinking too much, keep playing the ball as you see. that.”
Another advantage of these franchise gigs is the opportunity to reconnect with your old friends from South Africa. At Washington Freedom, he has shared a locker room with players like Marco Jansen and Anrich Nortje.
“Anrich and I are the same age. We played a lot of first-class and List A matches in South Africa,” Gous recalls. “Marco is just a special talent. When Marco was 18, he came to the franchise I played for to get his first contract. So for that season and a half he played on my team. Then Washington Freedom happened. He loves golf, which I do, but Marco is the best golfer (laughs).”
In a twist of fate, Gous faced South Africa in the 2024 World T20. Although he top-scored in that game with an unbeaten 80 off 40 balls, the United States ended up losing in North Sound. Gous never imagined playing against his native country.
“When I was a kid, the plan was always to play for South Africa,” Gous says. “It’s like your dream was to play for South Africa and now you’re playing against them. So it was quite emotional in that sense. But you’re trying to win the game and do it for the United States. I think we’ve shown the world in that game that we’re a very good contender in T20 cricket.”
Growing up in South Africa, Gous admired AB de Villiers, of course, and Morne van Wyk, his former Knights teammate. Gous has fond memories of catching up with De Villiers after the solitary match he played against one of his heroes.
“AB was the man that everyone in South Africa looked up to. I mean, he is the greatest batting cricketer of all time,” says Gous. “Jacques Kallis was the other one everyone looked up to. For me, coming from Bloemfontein, Morne van Wyk too. We called him Megatron because he only scored runs for fun and didn’t always get the credit he deserved.
“That match against AB was incredible. I think the special thing about that match was that after you lose, normally in South Africa, you go to the locker room and we have a beer together. And AB just called me and said, come sit next to me. He gave me a beer and we started chatting. That sums up AB too. He’s never bigger than anyone and spends time with everyone and gives everyone the time to learn from him.”
Gous also marvels at the good physical condition of Faf du Plessis, who “ages like a good red wine and gets better and better.”
Gous doesn’t want to sit back on his skills either. He suggests his stints as a T20 globetrotter will stand him in good stead even beyond his playing career.
“I’ve never been afraid to ask a lot of questions,” Gous says. “I think that will help me whether I want to get into training later or just help me in my cricket career right now. So I’m just trying to give myself the best chance I can to perform.”
Gous sees the MLC growing more and more in the future. He cites the MLC as one of the reasons for his move to the United States.
“We just looked at other sports in America where we feel cricket can make an upward curve and be successful,” Gous said. “I always thought the United States was that place. When you talked to people about the plans they had for the MLC and for the World Cup and all that stuff, the MLC right now is one of the favorite tournaments for foreign players.
“I think from a cricketing point of view, sharing locker rooms with world-class coaches and players can only help Americans develop their game. We’ve seen how much the local players improve from season one to season three. I’m excited for season four. It’s definitely thanks to the MLC that we’re seeing a lot more American players picked for tournaments around the world.”
Gous is a shining example of this.