Cricket
“Valuing My Wicket Made the Difference”: David Bedingham on Record 279 for Durham
David Bedingham reflects on his record-breaking 279 for Durham, emphasizing how valuing his wicket after reaching a century made a key difference in his game this season.
Image Credits: Stu Forster/Getty Images
Exclusive: “This season I’ve been guilty of scoring hundreds and got out straight away, so I really tried to value my wicket more after getting to a hundred,” said David Bedingham
Durham’s David Bedingham reckons his frustration for constantly losing his wicket after crossing the three-figure earlier this season is the reason for his record-breaking 279 against Lancashire
Scoring Big Hundreds
Durham top-order batter, David Bedingham, scored 279 runs against Lancashire at Chester-Le-Street to help his team win the match by an innings and 63 runs.
It was Bedingham's sixth ton of the season but most importantly, it was Durham's highest ever individual First-Class score.
With the double century, Bedingham took his season run tally to 1205 runs and did so batting at an average of 86.07.
Before his innings at the Riverside Ground, Bedingham had smashed an unbeaten 129-ball 188 for South Africa 'A' in Potchefstroom against a strong Sri Lanka 'A' 50over team.
Bedingham told SportsBoom.com that the reason behind his recent big scores is that he thought throughout the season he was guilty of not valuing his wicket once he reached the three-figure mark.
The right-handed batter also described how he went about his record-breaking innings.
"This season I've been guilty of getting to a hundred and getting out, but I now really tried to focus to get to 120 because I think once you get to 120 you can almost be free again. I think this season I've gotten to a hundred and got out straight away, so I really tried to value my wicket more after getting to a hundred," said Bedingham.
We lost two early wickets and then I probably faced three or four balls and then I realised that it's a very good wicket. I tried to get myself in and after a certain amount of time, the wicket got even better. I tried my best to focus as long as I could and it worked out nicely
David Bedingham
Breaking County Cricket Records
Moreover, as much as the 30-year-old keeps breaking records, he told SportsBoom.com that he never focuses on the records but rather on helping the team win games of cricket.
"My goal every single time I bat is to try and score a hundred and do the best that I can for the team. I don't really think of the records because when you start your innings, you're so far away that you don't even consider the records," he said.
"So, when I go out to bat, I try to get 20 first and see from there. I never look too far ahead. I've been quite blessed at Durham because since I've got there the wickets have been quite good and I think that's a major factor as well," he added.
Batting with Colin Ackerman
During his innings, Bedingham was batting alongside South African born Colin Ackerman who scored a mammoth 312-ball 186.
The pair combined for 425 runs for the fifth wicket as they batted a strong Lancashire side to submission.
"I think Ackers (Ackermann) and myself are quite similar in personality. he's very chilled and I'd like to think I am as well. It was quite cool batting with him," he said.
"I don't think we chatted that much. It was really easy to bat with him because he's a good friend of mine, so it was quite special," he added.
Bedingham and his Durham teammates will take on Surrey at the Oval for in what will be the penultimate fixture of the season
Ongama Gcwabe is an experienced Sports Journalist based in South Africa. In his career, Ongama’s work has been published in the country’s biggest newspapers company, Independe Newspapers, and some of the leading news and sports websites including IOL Sport.