Connor Esterhuizen highlights lessons from first Proteas tour

Esterhuizen was named player-of-the-match in their 19-run fourth T20 victory over New Zealand in Wellington yesterday, after he scored 57 runs in a 164 total, and helped the team stay alive in the series ahead of the Christchurch showdown on Wednesday. 

He made his debut in the ongoing series after impressing in the SA20, and says it will take some time to get used to the pressure at international level.

"I've loved every second of my first tour with the Proteas. The lessons I'll take from this is probably the pressure and the scrutiny, and how to deal with it. I don't think anyone has mastered how to deal with it, but I think the more you do it the more accustomed you become."

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The 24-year-old admitted that there was a time he didn’t think he was good enough to play professional cricket, let alone international cricket. He says the disruption of Covid-19 was a pivotal moment in his career.

"Before Covid and at the back end of my school career, I didn't make the teams I thought I was good enough to make, and after that I wasn't sure if cricket was really for me or if I was good enough to play professionally.

"Then Covid hit and it was sort of a saving grace. I then worked my up from club cricket and University cricket into the Lions B team, and then I got other opportunities here and there. After a couple of good performances, I find myself sitting in this position."

He heaped praise on stand-in captain Keshav Maharaj, who also happened to be his captain for the Pretoria Capitals in the SA20. He mentioned that Maharaj’s style of captaincy creates an environment of trust from the players, and they all look up to him.

The Proteas went into the match at ‘The Cake Tin’ trailing 2-1 in the series and needing to win to take it down to the wire. Esterhuizen revealed what their plan was with the wicket they were facing at the venue.

"That chat amongst the team was we just needed to assess better, especially us top 4 out there in the middle. This wicket was a little easier to bat on.

"We weren't too sure what to expect so we tried to anticipate the wickets we played on previously, and if it was any better, we planned to take advantage of that."