"Whoever adapts the fastest normally wins" - Tim Seifert [Exclusive]

Generally, in interviews like this one, a cricketer and the interviewee talk casually for a few minutes before getting down to discussing the answers to the pre-prepared questions. The small talk is to break the ice and find comfort before the serious, technical stuff is brought up and emotions are allowed to flow.

But in Tim Seifert's case, his first few words in the breaking-the-ice chat with Sportskeeda gave cosmic insight into his life as a freelance cricketer: the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats -- a whole SWOT analysis in one go.

"I found out about 10 days ago," Seifert said from an airport in New Zealand on Tuesday, speaking about his stint in the Caribbean Premier League beginning six days later.

"Two weeks ago, I was over in Sri Lanka, playing in the Sri Lankan league, and then went straight from Sri Lanka to Canada for the GT20. And then on the flight coming home I got asked to join St Lucia Kings. So it's all a bit of a time on the road, which is nice. But it's also sometimes a bit tough leaving home. But got to take the opportunities when you can!"

Seifert has joined the Kings as the replacement for Heinrich Klaasen who had to pull out due to personal reasons.

Assuming he plays 10 of the maximum 13 possible games for the Kings, it'll take his tally to 25 matches since July. That's 10 more T20 games than a usual IPL season for a player but spread across three different countries.

Shortly after the CPL ends, he'll travel to a fourth country -- Australia -- to make his debut appearance for the Melbourne Renegades in the Big Bash League, who swooped him in as their pre-draft signing for 2024-25.

But Seifert hardly complains. When you are a single-format player in your best years, trying to compete with Finn Allen, Devon Conway, and Glenn Phillips in the national team, being in excessive demand is much better than having no suitors.

And he deserves it too. The 29-year-old was the top run-scorer at the Lanka Premier League 2024 with 400 runs at a strike rate of 135.13. In his most recent T20I for New Zealand -- against Pakistan in April -- he scored a 33-ball 52.

The whirlwind of runs and opportunities, though, has come at a cost. For example, the too-good-to-miss two-year BBL deal means that Seifert would skip the Super Smash, the domestic T20 competition in New Zealand, and lose the opportunity to put his name in the ring for the international bilateral series during that time.

Eventually, he also had to turn down a domestic contract with the Northern Districts in July.

"It's always difficult -- not signing back in your home country, but my communication with New Zealand Cricket was great, and we had those conversations in Northern Districts as well, which made the decision a lot easier," Seifert said. "And, yeah, I think, I've made the right decision personally, and I look forward to the Big Bash... That's going to be very exciting.

"Obviously, being a Kiwi, you are always involved in the Big Bash, watching it at night, and you always have your favorite teams and players. It was a hard-ish decision, but at the same time, I am happy with my decision."

In the official release from the Renegades, manager James Rosengarten called him a "double threat" and admired the "beauty" of his full-time availability, which is getting rarer by the season for overseas stars in the BBL. Whereas Seifert spoke about building a "deeper level" connection with the club, which is equally sparse.

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"You're not gonna be a professional cricketer forever" - Tim Seifert

Those statements convey the odd reality of franchise cricket. You are hardly settled in one team in a particular league for more than a year or even one tournament for a month because different private leagues around the world continue to clash and offer lucrative money for shorter stints.

Last BBL season, the Perth Scorchers fans endeared to one of their best players, Laurie Evans, for his swashbuckling batting, only to see him bid an emotional goodbye just before the knockouts to see off his contract in the ILT20 in the UAE. The Adelaide Strikers, too, lost two of their best players to the tournament.

For players, it's like a never-stopping treadmill. You are changing countries like clothes and can't let your performances go down in vastly difficult conditions or the next big contract -- sometimes, even a national call-up -- might be jeopardized.

"It's kind of, the nature of the beast a little bit that you're not necessarily picked up first round in the draft or the auctions or, however, the tournaments work," Seifert said. "But replacement gigs pop up all the time, and it's always a bit last minute as well. So, yeah, literally, especially the last 2 months have been on the road... But, look, you're not gonna be a professional cricketer forever, so it's about taking those opportunities where you can and doing as well as you can as well."

Seifert is one of the few players who has maintained a game that is good enough for all conditions to maximize his chances. He has a 56-ball century in the T20 Blast in England, a 14-ball 21 for the Mumbai Indians in the IPL (only three chances overall), has a strike rate of 149.5 in the last two seasons of the Super Smash, and struck at 131.9 in the latest edition of the Pakistan Super League.

His fluid technique, command of footwork and a high range of shots around the ground simply make him work everywhere.

In April, a video of him flying parallel to the ground trying to reach out a wide ball against Pakistan went viral on social media. It was seen as a funny clip but it also showed how flexible he was to almost reach that despite initially backing away.

The foundation was laid down early due to the Kiwi sporting culture, as Seifert grew up playing cricket in the summer and hockey in the winter. He was representing New Zealand's youth teams in both sports and loved the thrill of getting into the 'D' and letting the flick shots out as a striker -- which he now replicates in cricket.

"You look at switch-hitting and reverse sweeping, I think it's called the Tomahawk in hockey," Seifert said. "So that definitely helps. I think it also helps with hand-eye coordination. I think they all do come hand in hand a little bit. You know, I play a lot of golf as well, and, you know, that's still that same kind of swing a little bit. Not not exactly, but, you know, it does help, from a power game [perspective]. I think that's where New Zealand [helps]. As young kids, we're always playing other sports growing up. So even if that's diving, rolling, we're just doing that from an early age. And, yeah, I think it definitely does help the sport that you finally choose."

After representing New Zealand in the 2014 ICC Under-19 World Cup, Seifert got the chance to play for Barkisland in the Huddersfield League in Yorkshire, his first taste of being a full-time sports professional. The money, opportunities, travel, and lifestyle that cricket offered compared to hockey made the choice easy.

"The difference between hockey and cricket, the opportunities that they give, is dramatically apart," Seifert said. "You know, I have a lot of friends now that are involved in hockey and doing very well, but, you know, they've gotta go spend a lot of time overseas and sometimes have, other jobs as well. So it was a bit of a no-brainer picking cricket."

In his now 61-T20Is-long career, most of Seifert's best knocks have come in New Zealand but he has found recent success in sub-continent conditions in franchise competitions because of his improved game against spin.

Although his spin-hitting isn't the best, he is brilliant in using his feet to rotate the strike and wait to tonk the pacers at will. The credit for this pragmatism goes to his experiences around the world, including the IPL where he faced some of the best spinners in the nets of the Kolkata Knight Riders, Mumbai Indians, and Delhi Capitals.

"Even if you're not playing much — I didn't play much [in the IPL], I was more of a reserve overseas player — you're still training with all these guys and and learning from them."

In Australia, he'll be the main man, and because he hasn't played a lot in there (which is rare), it'll require him to show a different layer of adaptability. It's good that he now enjoys the boring stuff and is looking forward to speaking with the locals to learn more about playing on the bouncy tracks and the big boundaries.

"We have got an exciting top-three with Jake Fraser-McGurk, Josh Brown, and potentially myself up there. So it will be exciting. And then, yeah, just a different way that the Aussies bowl as well in their conditions. They bash length which is sometimes, nice to face, but then at the same time, with those bouncy wickets, it can be a bit different. And, obviously, every every ground in Australia plays a little bit differently as well. So you gotta have to adapt and that's the exciting thing about cricket. You just have to adapt and whoever adapts the fastest normally wins as well."

He doesn't have to look too far for an idol to replicate in the BBL. Brendon McCullum, the former New Zealand captain and a cult hero in the league, has been his mentor-cum-friend and golf partner since February 2019 when he scored 84 (43) against India in Wellington while opening for the first time in internationals.

McCullum messaged him after that game and Seifert took the opportunity to ask, "Catch-up for beer?" and the duo just hit off.

"We both love golf, so we have probably played more golf, with each other than cricket. We'd batted [together] only a few times. Other than that, we've actually been only in the nets, but more times, it's just conversations, on the golf course and just picking his brain at certain situations that I might have coming up or little situations I felt I maybe struggled in."

"Look, he and Chris Lynn created the Bash Brothers there (BBL)! (smiles) ... I think it's just doing what I do. Obviously, getting his experience on those conditions, but, yeah, not trying to be anyone else other than myself and going out there and try and dominate the bowlers."

Since 2023, Jake Fraser-McGurk has struck at 190.88 in powerplays with an average of 36.62, while Seifert's corresponding numbers are 140.79 and 42.80.

The Bash Brothers popularity mountain might be too big to climb. But the Renegades would serve themselves well by keeping a nice marketable nickname ready in case the Seifert-Fraser-McGurk union performs to potential.

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Finding the balance and consistency

Being a freelancer isn't easy irrespective of the field. You don't have a source of stable monthly income and every day is about chasing new opportunities.

It gives freedom, sure, but it also brings constant pressure -- bad days hurt more, and bring more doubts, making everything in general a bit more unpredictable. Seifert's case is not too different and he credits his wife, Morgan Croasdale, and son, Lando for helping him get through the rough corners.

"It always helps when you've got that life balance off the field," he said. "I think it does help you perform on the field. But I think also with having a child, you know, your bad innings, it gets forgotten pretty quick! You don't really have much time to dwell on it. You just get on with the next game. And, yeah, when you're off the field, you don't really think about cricket too much, which is, which is nice."

Although he's now a T20 specialist, Seifert grew up loving red-ball cricket and ODIs and said he only "slipped into" the shortest format because of his playing style. Now, although he knows it might be a bit late, he maintains playing Tests for New Zealand is still one of his dreams, even if he'll have to do it "in a different way", which is, by scoring runs for the Districts without a domestic contract.

His New Zealand and IPL careers haven't been any less frustrating. He couldn't get into the 2024 T20 World Cup squad and chances in the IPL -- which he calls "a big goal of mine" -- have evaded him since 2022 despite not doing much wrong.

But, almost on-point with his cricketing identity of a Test and ODI-lover who's smashing it in T20s, Seifert is ready for the long haul, continuing to adapt and evolve, waiting for the right opportunity to make his mark.

"You gotta enjoy it no matter what happens as well," he said. "The thing with World Cups is that you can only take 15 guys, and you gotta kinda set up the squad to suit the conditions that you're going to. So, yeah, I think from now, you're always enjoying your time playing for New Zealand and hopefully, there is more to come. As I said before, you're just doing it in a different way now [according to how] cricket's going. So I'll keep scoring runs in these franchise leagues, and hopefully, that gets me selected for New Zealand in the future."