NEWS
Follow UsThey say there always comes a deciding moment in one's life and if a person survives it, they come out with a changed perspective on life. That moment came in 2016 for South Africa’s newest mainstay in Test cricket, David Bedingham.
The then 22-year-old was severely injured in a car accident where his jaws and head were massively affected. However, he came out strong and that accident changed his perspective on life and cricket equally.
"What the car crash did was change my perspective on cricket and life," Bedingham was quoted as saying to Cricbuzz.
"I used to put myself under so much pressure to try to score runs in every single game. After the crash, I thought life was a lot bigger than cricket. If cricket doesn't work, it doesn't work. I'll just go and get a regular job. When I started playing again, I enjoyed it. And if I failed, it was fine. There are a lot more important issues in the world than scoring nought or a hundred,” he added.
The 30-year-old is once again in the news as he smashed four back to back hundreds in first-class cricket for Durham in County Cricket before joining the Proteas unit in West Indies for a two-match Test series starting August 7 (Wednesday) in Trinidad.
Asked whether the accident was instrumental in changing his life as Bedingham scored seven centuries in 50 innings after his accident compared to three before it in same number of innings, the Western Province man said, “I think you can say that. It shows you what a mental game cricket is.”
Bedingham further explained the change in his mindset, “You put yourself under so much pressure because of the fear of failure that it limits your game. Since the car crash, I've got rid of that mindset.”
Was it only positives from the accident or were there some limitations too? "I broke my right femur, and my leg is as good as it can be. I was never a quick runner, but it's made me slower.
That's allowed me to field in the slips and try to become the best catcher rather than the best cover fielder. The only thing I'm limited in is sweeping and reverse sweeping, but I've never been a massive sweeper,” Bedingham elaborated.
And answering the pertinent question of what he would have become if cricket did not work out for him, the right-handed batter confidently answered, “I studied finance at Stellenbosch [University], so I'd probably go into financial advice. Or property. It doesn't sound fun, but I enjoy numbers."
He has dealt well with numbers for sure. With 24 first-class centuries in just 157 innings, the Durham player has a century-to-innings ratio of 15.29, which is better than any other Proteas batter with 100 first-class innings. It is also better than some of the greats of batting like Ricky Ponting (16.60), Sachin Tendulkar (16.53) and Steve Smith (16.16).
However, those stalwarts mainly played Test cricket as first-class and Bedingham, who has only seven innings in Tests, would look to improve the ratio between domestic and international first-class cricket. Going in as the leading run-scorer (926 runs in 14 innings) in County Championships 2024, Bedingham would be expected to lead the Proteas charge against a West Indian side that has received a 3-0 defeat at the hands of England in their last series.
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