EXCLUSIVE: Waiting game almost over as Proteas batter David Bedingham gets fit for World Test Championship final

A little over a month ago, Proteas batter David Bedingham suffered a broken toe in his first fixture of the season back with Durham in the County Championship, keeping him out of action.

As a result, at some point, there was a concern about his availability for the World Test Championship final.

However, all those concerns were put to bed when Proteas all-format coach Shukri Conrad included the 31-year-old middle-order batter in his squad this week for the June 11-15 final against Australia in London.

“In my first game, I got hit by the ball on my toe, and it broke my toe. So, it’s been frustrating because I think the thing with the toe is you can’t do much rehab... there’s nothing you can do,” Bedingham told Independent Media in an exclusive interview on Wednesday.

“You just have to wait for the bone to heal. So, firstly, in the second or third week, there hasn’t been much pain.

“But the only unfortunate thing is I can’t play. So, it’s been quite frustrating.

“I’ve been limited to doing what I can. So, it’s been a lot of gym work, quite a bit of walking the dog and the type of stuff like that, but not too intense.

“And then maybe this last week, I’ve ramped it up with a bit of running, a bit of batting, a bit of gym work. So, it’s been quite good.”

The time out from the game might have hindered the right-hand batter’s plans of getting as much time in the middle as possible to be ready for the WTC final.

However, he did admit that it was a blessing in disguise as he needed the break from the game.

For the last three seasons, Bedingham has been playing non-stop, spending the South African summer with Western Province in Cape Town, and the winters in the United Kingdom competing in the County Championship.

That has meant that the 31-year-old has had very little rest, especially since he made his Test debut two years ago, as his calendar got even busier with international cricket added.

“I think the last two, maybe three years, I’ve played back-to-back seasons in the county season and then obviously back home in South Africa as well. Especially in the last year, there’s been a lot of travelling in between that as well,” said Bedingham.

“So, last year, I think we went to the West Indies, which is a long way to travel. Then we went to Bangladesh, and in February, we went to New Zealand as well.

“So, I think it’s been quite hectic with the travel and obviously playing a lot as well. 

“I don’t think I’ve really had a four-week break for a very long time.

“So, on weekends, me and the wife have actually been travelling a bit and just taking a time-out, which has actually been really nice.

“So, hopefully going into the WTC final, I’ll be fresh and very keen to play again.”

Bedingham will miss this week’s County Championship game, but is set to return to action next week against Somerset.

The right-handed batter aims to use the fixture against Somerset to get his groove back, especially having had a rather difficult Test season with the Proteas.

Moreover, Bedingham told Independent Media that the Proteas batting group are excited by the prospect of testing themselves against the Australian bowling attack at Lord’s next month.

“This last season didn’t go like I wanted it to, but I feel like these things happen in cricket, and it’s like a learning curve,” he said.

“I think it’s very exciting for all players. I think it’s, first of all, the final. Second of all, playing against Australia, who are first on the ICC Test rankings...

“And thirdly, as batters, I think that they’re obviously quality bowlers.

“And if we can do well against them, I feel that we can take confidence from that to think and play that if we can play well against them, we can almost play well against anyone. 

“It will be a great challenge because they’re obviously quality bowlers. But if we can come up trumps, I think we can all take a lot of confidence from that.”