Meet the Proteas’ new weapon
NEW CAP: LEG-SPINNER TOOK EVERYTHING ON BOARD
A leg-spinner should be crafty – and Shaun von Berg, the new squad member to face Sri Lanka, fits the bill.
Innovative thinking sealed his place in the squad for Sri Lanka.
Aleg-spinner should be a crafty individual and Shaun von Berg, the new member of the Proteas squad for their Test tour to Sri Lanka next month, is certainly an innovative thinker judging by how he used intel to help his game on the recent spin camp in India.
While Von Berg has been a consistent performer for the Titans in Sunfoil Series cricket, taking 70 wickets in the last two seasons, his performances at the spin camp in Mumbai, which was attended by Proteas assistant coach Malibongwe Maketa, surely sealed the deal for him in terms of selection.
“The spin camp was nice to go on. I’ve been quite a few times now, but this time I spoke more about game plans with the coaches, about tactics and field placings. And then I would try and listen in when they were speaking to the batsmen so I could think like them and get a step ahead,” Von Berg revealed yesterday.
The 31-year-old will also be looking to contribute with the bat as well in Sri Lanka, having recognised the need to work on that side of his game a few years ago.
“I saw the Titans often needed runs at the back end of the innings so I worked hard on my batting. Rob Walter (the previous Titans coach) put me under pressure to score more runs and Mark Boucher (current coach) has also put a lot of pressure on me. We’ve worked hard on my batting, he tells me what I’m doing wrong, but the biggest focus has been on changing my mindset towards it,” Von Berg, who has scored two Sunfoil Series centuries, said.
It has certainly not been a rapid rise to international colours for Von Berg, who played in the Khaya Majola Schools Week for Northerns against contemporaries like Dean Elgar, Keshav Maharaj and Vernon Philander, but Von Berg knows that leg-spin takes time to perfect.
“In the beginning, bowling legspin is a tough art, it takes time to learn the trade and to get consistency takes a bit longer. It’s still a dream come true, it just took a bit longer. I’ve been in Sri Lanka once before and the conditions are very foreign. You just need to bowl your best delivery as much as you can. The pace you bowl also makes a big difference, you have to find out the right pace,” Von Berg said.