Raynard van Tonder has held a bat ever since he could walk and, through the years, has progressed to become one of South Africa’s finer prospects in the middle, writes Marc Jacobson.

The 21-year-old said when he was about three or four years old his father bought him his first bat, before cutting it in half and throwing the ball to him to serve as his first ever ‘batting practice’.

Over the years, Van Tonder, who hails from Bloemfontein and who was schooled at Grey College, has made waves in the local cricketing fraternity.

Van Tonder represented Grey College’s 1^st XI since he was a fresh-faced grade eight pupil, which is already a telling tale.

He went on to represent the South African U 19 side at two junior World Cups, in 2016 and 2018 – the first of which he was still in matric.

In the 2018 World Cup, Van Tonder captained the national side, led by example and scored the third-most runs in the whole tournament of 348, behind India’s Shubman Gill (372) and West Indies’ Alick Athanaze (418).

In that same tournament he also struck the third-highest total by a South African in U19 ODIs when he smashed 143 – including 14 fours and 6 sixes – against Kenya. 

That score still stands as the third-highest behind Quinton de Kock’s 146 against Pakistan in 2012 and Jacques Rudolph’s 156 not out against Nepal in 2000. 

It also matched AB de Villiers’ knock of 143 against England in 2003, but Van Tonder’s allotted runs were scored quicker.

“Growing up, [I was inspired] by AB de Villiers and Virat Kohli and now recently I’ve really enjoyed watching Steve Smith,” a humble, yet ambitious Van Tonder told Cricket Fanatics Magazine.

“Those guys really inspired me to play cricket and from a young age I just wanted to get out there and hit with the middle of my bat. Every time I do that, I just want to [keep my eye] in.”

Van Tonder had also accumulated the second-most runs scored by a South African in all U19 ODIs, amassing 1 097 runs in his three-year tenure from 2016 to 2018. 

He was second to De Kock’s 1 409, but had scored the best average (49.86) out of any batsmen who had played in 20 innings or more.

Meanwhile, De Kock, the Proteas current captain and wicketkeeper batsman, is Van Tonder’s present inspiration to reach the top of the sport.

The Bloemfontein local’s ambitions are far greater than his past achievements, though, and the shadows of former-cricketing greats and his childhood role models are evidently not too far cast.

“I definitely still want to play international cricket in all three formats and my main goal is to become number one in the world.”

The junior World Cups bore testament to what he was capable of in the greater scheme of things, Van Tonder insinuated.

“The experience of the World Cup was unbelievable – just to be able to test yourself against the world’s best at age-level and to see that you’re not that far off [from being the best].

“I felt like, from seeing other players play from other countries, that they aren’t that much better or different.

“Getting selected in the World XI team [that year] really gave me a lot of confidence heading into franchise and provincial cricket.”

Van Tonder’s performances in the current 4-Day Franchise Series for the Knights have been particularly off the dial, having outscored his rivals with a total 843 runs in 14 innings at a superb average of 70.25.

Edward Moore of the Warriors was second to him by a long shot, having totalled 705 runs with an average of 50.35.

“I’m really happy with my form in the red ball [format]. I had a really good start and fortunately the team’s doing quite well as well, so hopefully I can just continue with the runs heading into the last two games so that we can win the trophy.”

The Bloemfontein-based Knights have been particularly accommodating to him in his young career so far, Van Tonder added.

“The coaching staff and my teammates have all been really supportive. A guy like Keegan Peterson has been helping me a lot as he’s also been scoring many runs in four-day cricket. He was always available to speak to.

“Pite [van Biljon] has been really good as a captain, as well as some other guys. There are many I can name. They have been very important, especially with me coming in as a youngster.

“They have always helped whenever they could and I am fortunate to have proper teammates.”

The middle-order batsman has suffered a series of back-to-back ducks in his last two one-day games during the ongoing Momentum One Day Cup, but he assured that those were merely just glitches.

“I don’t think there is a massive problem. I just think it is more about going in, getting a good start and making big runs. I can’t really say why I haven’t been scoring runs there.

“I had a better start to my senior career in red-ball cricket, but it’s not the end yet.”