Jorich van Schalkwyk, South Africa's next cricket sensation, shatters youth ODI records

Daily Maverick

6 days ago

Van Schalkwyk became the first cricketer to score a double-century in a Youth ODI last week, and the 18-year-old is just getting started.
South Africa has seen a few talented young batters shake up the cricketing world over the past few years.
Dewald Brevis made the biggest splash with his stand-out performances at the under-19 Cricket World Cup in 2022, and his franchise success that followed.
Two years later, Lhuan-dre Pretorius, who is still only 19 years old, made a splatter and then a bang, first with his performances for South Africa under-19 and then with his showing in professional cricket, particularly this year's SA20 competition.
Now there's another young batter whose ball-striking has started echoing across the cricket fraternity. Jorich van Schalkwyk, playing for South Africa under-19, struck an undefeated 164 two weeks ago against Bangladesh's junior representative team at Willowmore Park in Benoni.
It was the highest individual score by a South African in a youth ODI match in history. But the record didn't stand long.
The 18-year-old broke his own record three days later when he smashed 215 against Zimbabwe in Harare.
It was the first double century struck in a youth ODI. Van Schalkwyk has well and truly made a splash.
Looking up to AB
The tidy, right-handed batter, unsurprisingly – like Brevis – idolises South African cricket legend AB de Villiers.
The pair have a few things in common. They both attended Afrikaanse Hoër Seunskool (Affies), from which Van Schalkwyk matriculated last year, and both were born and raised in Bela-Bela in Limpopo.
'I would say just the way AB bats and how he can put bowlers under pressure, and just his consistency overall,' Van Schalkwyk told Daily Maverick. 'I think those stats speak for themselves in that department.'
De Villiers, now 41, is currently rolling back the years in the World Championship of Legends, having already struck two centuries for South Africa Legends in the T20 competition.
Van Schalkwyk said he was keen to emulate the legendary batter. So far, apart from having the same bat sponsor as the young De Villiers — Kookaburra — he's doing so with his clean ball striking.
Van Schalkwyk is multi-talented too, having excelled in several sports at school, but he had a single-minded approach to cricket.
'I played tennis, hockey and rugby growing up, but I gave it all up when I went to high school,' he said. 'It was my choice.'
The talented youngster's double hundred against Zimbabwe was not the first time he had crossed the 200 mark in the past 12 months either.
'I scored 240 last year against Cornwall [Hill College] in a school match, and another double hundred against Potchefstroom Gimnasium,' he said.
Van Schalkwyk is technical in his approach, batting mostly in the top three, but is not afraid of giving the ball a thump once he's settled.
It's not always been that way, but some physical development has helped him clear the boundary more easily and reach higher milestones.
In fact, after making every provincial youth side growing up, he missed out on under-16 selection before an uptick across the last two years helped him get where he is now.
'I've got bigger and stronger since,' he said. 'I've also practised harder across the last two years than ever before.'
Father's boy
The foundation for his rise through the ranks is down to his father, according to Van Schalkwyk. He was raised on a farm that initially had only wild game, but after Covid-19 the family farm pivoted to cattle and sheep as well.
It was on the farm that his father put up a bowling machine, threw down some concrete for a pitch and rained down balls on his son.
'My dad was actually really tough on me,' Van Schalkwyk said about his father, Heinrich. 'I didn't really want to practise some days, but it turned out pretty well. I love my dad.
'We trained every day. When I was in grades two and three we trained about five days a week.'
'Alongside AB [de Villiers], my dad is one of my biggest idols,' the youngster said. 'Just how hard he works and how inspiring he is for me. I can't talk about it too much or I get emotional.'
He learned the game as a toddler watching his father play for a local side, while he was on the sidelines playing his own game, which instilled his love of the sport. It's why he chose to pursue cricket despite showing promise in tennis at a young age too.
'I would say I was pretty good at tennis as well, and I had a lot of practice sessions,' said Van Schalkwyk, who is currently studying towards a BCom degree in Marketing at the University of Pretoria.
'I had good coaches with tennis, like cricket, but at the end of the day it was just my choice. I just enjoyed cricket more.'
So far that joy has taken him to great heights at the junior level, although senior international cricket is where he wants to make a real splash, just as his cricketing idol did before him. DM