NEWS
Follow UsDespite being five-Test old, Tony de Zorzi is already an integral member of the South African setup. The Proteas began their two-match Test series against West Indies with a draw in Port of Spain, where de Zorzi showed his worth as a modern-day Test opener.
The stylish left-handed batter began the tour with an attractive 145-ball 78, scoring nine boundaries with relative ease. He followed that up with another 45 off 60 balls in the second innings as South Africa looked to force a result on the final day.
While the conditions at Queen’s Park Oval might have been completely different to the ones in the Western Cape, the South African opener trusts himself to get things done. Not just that, he also added that there’s not yet a need to ‘reinvent the wheel’ in his game plan.
"My mindset is that I'm here now, so I've got to just trust myself and back what I've done to get here," de Zorzi said ahead of the second Test at the press conference.
“I don't think I have to try to reinvent the wheel in my game plan. It's just about being able to make small little adjustments according to the wicket. So [it's about] being comfortable enough to make a small change - not a massive one - and then just trusting it,” he added.
With more teams adapting to the changing times of red-ball cricket in an aggressive manner, de Zorzi reckoned that the conditions in Port of Spain were much easier to tackle for him as a batter.
"I wouldn't say it was something where I decided I'm going to come out and play Shuks-ball or something. It was just the conditions," he said.
"Sometimes it's a bit easier because the ball is harder at the beginning. Being someone who was born up-country [in Johannesburg], I'm used to the ball coming on to the wicket, and scoring a lot squarer on the off side and the leg side. So it is [about] just being cognisant of the fact that I'm obviously going to have to hit a lot straighter for most of my runs,” he said.
The 26-year-old has already had a stellar start to his Test career, with 268 runs in five Tests. However, with a three-figure mark yet to come in Test cricket, is de Zorzi worried?
"It'll come when it's supposed to," he said.
"I'm obviously doing the work that's intended for me to get it, and I'm pretty comfortable with my game. Hopefully, next time it just doesn't hit my glove [as it did against Jomel Warrican in Port of Spain], and I'll get over the line."
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