Dian Forrester: All I ever wanted to do was play for the Proteas

The 25-year-old allrounder finds himself on his maiden senior international tour and is itching to get on the field and show the form that saw him catch the selectors' attention during the SA20 playing for Joburg Super Kings.

"Ever since I was a little kid, all I ever wanted to do was play for the Proteas," Forrester explains.

"There was no bigger dream, and to see the squad announced and be part of it was a surreal moment. I told my mom I still canâ™t believe it."

For the Forrester family, this tour marks the culmination of a dream fostered from a young age, when his parents used to tape national games for him to watch.

Now, all grown up, he is looking forward to playing on the international stage, for the ones who helped him get to this point.

"My grandpa was one of my biggest supporters. He loved watching me and always put cricket on the TV. So he was my biggest supporter and now it's just my grandma," he said of the wider family support that fostered his love for the game.

"My parents have also been incredibly supportive throughout my journey. They would always watch me play and, every single time afterwards, send me a message saying how proud they were of me and 'well done'.

"From a young age, they believed I was destined for big things and that belief neverfaltered."

A product of Affies, the same school as AB de Villiers and Faf du Plessis, Forrester was a revelation for the injury-hit Joburg Super Kings side in Season 4of SA20, with his powerful striking a hallmark of their run to the playoffs.

The left-handed batter  accumulated 175 runs at an average of 58.33 and a strike-rate of 165.09.

He admits that he has grown a lot since his days of youth cricket, where he first ran into current Proteas fielding coach Kruger van Wyk at the acclaimed Tuks cricket programme.

"I was at Tuks for four years, where I got to spend time with coach Kruger. In the beginning, it was very intimidating because you get there and see all these big names. I had to grow up very quickly because you're in a very focused environment, so either you fit in or it's out the door," he recalls.

Forrester has done a lot of growing since those days and he is looking forward to showing Van Wyk what he has learnt along the way.

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