Bedingham targets time in middle after returning from injury

The Herald

21-05-2025

Proteas middle-order batsman David Bedingham is hoping to spend as much time as possible in the middle in his highly anticipated return to action, having been out due to a broken toe for over a month.
He is set to play this week in the County Championship as Durham host Somerset at Chester-le-Street on Friday.
Bedingham's injury caused a brief concern for the Proteas Test squad, who are set to take on Australia in the World Test Championship final at Lord's next month, and his recovery came as relief as the 31-year-old is a key player in the middle-order.
In an exclusive interview with SportsBoom, the 31-year-old said he would go into the game against Somerset well prepared with the hopes of getting runs under his belt.
'I don't want to look too far ahead, but I do think I'm going to go into the game well-prepped and try my best to score runs, but obviously in cricket you can't guarantee that,' Bedingham said.
'Whether I score noughts or score hundreds, I'll try my best.
'Going into that WTC final, it doesn't matter how many runs you've scored leading up to it. I think it's just like a once-off game and whoever plays better for those five days will win.
'I'll go into the WTC game thinking the same. Wanting to score runs, training hard and just seeing where I can come out.'
In the current Proteas Test squad, Bedingham has the most experience of playing in the United Kingdom with the Duke ball, having played for Durham for many years.
With the South African batters set to face an Australian attack including Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood and Mitchell Starc, you would imagine that the batting unit would look to Bedingham for the right approach in the often seaming and swinging conditions at Lord's.
Despite the pressure that may come with that, Bedingham believes there is no added pressure on him and that he won't be putting pressure on himself.
'I think that personally, that doesn't put any more pressure on me,' he said.
'I think it doesn't matter where you play or what Test match you play, there will always be pressure.
'But I'm not going to put myself under more pressure because I've played here more. Every Test match you play, there's pressure. Hopefully we can all embrace it and do our country proud.'
Bedingham emphasised that the only difference between the conditions in the United Kingdom and SA was that there was less bounce in the UK.
The 31-year-old believes that the other Proteas Test batters will adapt as they will spend almost two weeks in England before the first ball of the final is bowled.
'I just think you need to identify that maybe in SA, there's a bit more bounce,' Bedingham said.
'But as soon as you start training and as soon as you start speaking about conditions, I think all players adapt well.
'The guys that are picked in the final will have 12 days leading up to the Test of good training. So I think everyone will be well prepared going into that match.' — SportsBoom