MATURED David Bedingham has had to patiently wait for his deserved opportunity in Proteas colours and having had the perfect start to his International Test career, he could be an important piece of a puzzle as South Africa continue to rebuild.
The Proteas will kick-off their ICC Test Championship campaign away against the West Indies in a two match series with the first set to commence on August 7 at the Queens Park Oval in Trinidad and Tobago.
The Proteas last played a Test match against New Zealand in February, and they lost the two-match Test series 2-0. The series was played concurrently with the SA20 competition, and with Cricket South Africa having made their intentions clear that they will prioritise the second edition of their prized tournament over a series in The Land of the Long White Cloud, coach Shukri Conrad took with him seven uncapped players.
In the midst of everything, Bedingham also had a shot of being part of the SA20 and with all the benefits the tournament brings, he opted to pursue his dream instead, and availed himself to go on tour after having made his debut against India earlier in the summer.
“To represent South Africa in Test cricket has always been a dream for me,” he said.
“It was quite an easy decision, obviously the SA20 has a lot of hype and it is a very good competition, but I thought the opportunity to play for my country was a bigger call and I’m glad I played the Test matches, and that has allowed me to go to the West Indies tour with a bit more confidence and a little bit of experience.
“Hopefully we can come away with two wins, obviously the last series we played was different, we had quite a few changes, we had a lot of inexperience in terms of Test cricket, but we held our own against New Zealand.”
The 30-year-old former Wynberg Boys’ High School pupil has had to patiently wait for his chance to make his debut for South Africa. His first class record of 7 264 runs scored at an average of 51.51 speaks volumes and leaves one to ponder why it took so long for him to finally make his debut.
Bedingham has been out of action for the past two weeks due to a minor hamstring injury, but he has since recovered and is set to continue playing for Durham County Cricket Club in the Royal London One Day Cup.
“The summer has been really good. Durham moved to division one this year and it has been a big change, but for the team, personally I feel I have done pretty well and hopefully I can take that form into the Test series,” he said.
“We will play a young West Indies team, but it’s a very good West Indies side. I think they drew the series against Australia, and they just lost the first Test match now against England. They are a very good team with a lot of potential. If we can play to our best and put them under enough pressure, we can come away with two wins.”
The right hand batter credits County cricket for his development and learnings in red ball cricket, but he also has aspirations to play for South Africa outside the Test format and he will let his bat do the talking for now.
“Naturally conditions here are different, you also play a lot of cricket here compared to back in South Africa. Being under pressure for long periods of time grows you as a player, facing the different bowlers has helped me grow as a player,” he said.
“Rather than talking about it, I would rather score runs and hopefully when a chance comes, and if you take your chance, then you can play for a long time.”