Van Biljon's marathon
Joshua van Biljon blunted England u19's attack twice
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Joshua van Biljon is not in the habit of breaking bats. It’s just not in his veins. He is reserved by nature and the worst he can do in moments of extreme disappointment is hitting his pads or dropping his head and walking off the field with his shoulders down.
On July 20th, he had the century was in full view. He needed three runs to get there. Then Jack Nelson got enough turn on the 375th delivery of the innings to take the edge and fly to Ben Dawkins, who pouched the ball at first slip. It was a rather tame delivery to end a brilliant innings.
Anyone else would have been tempted to hurl bats or gloves once off the pitch. Van Biljon let out a muted scream, shook his bat briefly, and trudged off the field. The 18-year-old had composed himself by the time he reached the pavilion, where his teammates and staff were applauding.
He might not have reached three figures, but his 97 was the difference between winning the series and England having a shot at levelling the scores. Thanks to him, South Africa u19 claimed their first Youth Test series victory on English soil in 23 years.
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Joshua van Biljon spent an eternity in the middle. In the first innings, he walked in to bat in the second over and did not leave until the 68th. He was an immovable force for his 203-ball 72 in the first innings. The 162 dot balls he smothered almost equalled the deliveries Jack Nelson faced in England’s first innings. Nelson was England’s highest scorer in their first outing with the bat with 128 runs from 179 balls.
Van Biljon’s marathon knock was one of two central planks that supported Jason Rowles’ march to a history-making double century. His second innings felt like the continuation of the first. Van Biljon was employing an old school plan. South Africa u19 batted through 79 overs in the second innings and 27.5 of them were directed at him.
Add the 33.5 overs he batted through in the first innings, he totaled 61.1 overs from which he made 169 runs for twice out.
Van Biljon showed a great awareness of where his off-stump was. He blocked all balls that looked aimed at it. He picked off anything straight and left a lot when the bowlers went wide. He sprinkled a few drives into his repertoire and hooked anything short.
Charlie Harmison forgot how good Van Biljon was on the back foot, so he employed the short ball tactic on the fourth morning. The pacer banged in five short ones. England retrieved three of them from the boundary. The hosts abandoned the tactic, which was one of many that the hosts employed in an attempt to dismiss him.
Van Biljon held things together for South Africa from the second ball. He walked in to replace Jorich van Schalkwyk, who was undone by Bradley Sylvester off the first ball of the innings. Van Biljon watched seven batting partners come and go. The visitors had taken an England victory off the table when he eventually lost his wicket in the 63rd over.
It was an eternity of batting. One whose perfect ending would have been a three-figure score, not 97 runs.
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Joshua van Biljon had his first major heartbreak when he was 10. He left the KZN u11 trials with a good feeling. His parents, Mario and Carole, were also convinced he had made it. Van Biljon had done everything that was asked of him and more. The family was certain that he was going to be picked for the KZN u11 team. But, he wasn’t.
The family got the bubble bursting message as they were driving home. It was a gut wrenching moment. Van Biljon was 10 at the time and had been working towards making his first provincial team for a while. He had poured as much as his 10-year-old body could allow. Mario didn’t wait until they got home to have a chat with his son.
“I know I’ve been promising you and telling you don’t worry, you’re in this team, but they haven’t selected you, my boy. It doesn’t matter. You get back in the nets tomorrow and we carry on training and you don’t worry about what has happened. They can take selection away from you, but they can never take your ability to continue to improve away from you,” Mario told his son.
Van Biljon internalised his father’s advice. He was back in the nets the next day. There were new goals to work towards. He scored a match-winning 76 in his next outing. Serendipitously, one of the batters in the u11 team suffered an injury a few days later, and Van Biljon was called up to the side.
He got better each year. He also didn’t miss any other provincial teams, unless if you consider the 2024 Khaya Majola Week squad. Only Ross Coetzee outscored him in their section in the province, so he had his fingers crossed that he would be called up. He wasn’t. Van Biljon was selected for the u17 squad instead. Van Biljon travelled to Pretoria and helped the KZN team lift the title. The heroics got him into the 2025 Cubs Week.
Joshua van Biljon has lived by the advice he got from his father as a 10-year-old. Each failure or disappointment is not an indictment on him as a cricketer or a person. He controls the controllables and leave the things beyond his power well alone. His century in red ball cricket has not been denied, it’s just delayed.
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