Connor Esterhuizen is only four matches into his first senior tour, yet the Johannesburg-born wicketkeeper-batter already has a Player-of-the-Match award, the most runs in the series, and a back-story that sounds anything but straightforward.
South Africa’s top order has leant on the 23-year-old during the T20s in New Zealand. He guided a nervy chase of 91 with an unbeaten 45 in game one, followed that with lean returns of 8 and 15, and then produced a measured 57 on a two-paced Wellington surface on Thursday. Those numbers place him clear at the head of the run-scoring chart before the final match in Auckland.
That form is striking when you remember that, three years ago, he wondered whether the sport had passed him by.
“Covid was very important for me. It was sort of a saving grace in cricketing terms,” he said, unprompted, after collecting his award at the Basin Reserve. “Before Covid, at the back-end of my school career, I didn’t make the teams that I wanted to and that I thought I was good enough to make. I wasn’t sure if cricket was really for me or if I was good enough to play professionally or after school. And then Covid hit and it gave me a little bit of a break from the game.”
Unplanned reset
Unlike many of his team-mates, Esterhuizen was never capped at under-19 level. St John’s College gave him a sound grounding, but by matric he had slipped off the radar. The pandemic shut clubhouses and emptied nets, yet the pause allowed him to reassess.
“And then, I worked my way up from club cricket and university cricket into the Lions B team. I got my opportunity at Lions level and an opportunity here and there and then sort of played a little bit more throughout the last two years,” he explained.
A debut for the Lions in 2022 – 52 off 58 balls while batting at No. 7 in the one-day cup – marked the start of a rapid rise. He has since climbed into the top three, notched four first-class hundreds, and earned SA20 contracts with MI Cape Town and Pretoria Capitals. A-team runs this summer nudged the national selectors, who required a reserve gloveman once Quinton de Kock stepped away from international red-ball duty.
Balancing act at the crease
Asked where the improvement has come from, Esterhuizen offered a matter-of-fact assessment. “I’ve tried to take my game to another level. For most people the talent is always there, but it’s hard to use that talent and the decision-making that comes with it. That is the key the higher up you go in this game,” he said. “The second thing is just how to deal with failures, because this game is a game of failures. And when you succeed, you need to take it in. How to deal with those failures the higher you go will stand you in good stead.”
The comment felt timely. Game two of the current series saw him scratch around, short on intent; two nights later he was out slogging. He read the room on Thursday, settling for orthodox drives until late on.
“In the second game, I was maybe a bit defensive and didn’t have as much intent as I could have. And then the last game, maybe I was trying to play a shot a ball,” he said with a shrug. “Whereas this innings I just tried to play what was in front of me, normal cricket shots, and waited for the ball in my area. That was the only difference.”
What next?
South Africa’s limited-overs set-up could do with middle-order stability ahead of the Champions Trophy qualification scrap and a looming World T20. Esterhuizen’s dual skill-set adds balance, though it is too early to pencil him into either tournament. A short turnaround to the domestic four-day final awaits, where he is likely to open for the Lions.
For now, the focus is Eden Park on Sunday. A 3-2 victory would cap a debut tour that, in February, was not even on his horizon. Whatever comes later, Esterhuizen has already banked proof that stepping away – even if enforced by a pandemic – can sometimes advance a career.
“It’s been a whirlwind,” he said, fiddling with the match ball handed to him by the umpires. You suspect there will be more milestones to polish before long, but that line, at least, can wait for the next flight home.
