De Zorzi determined to establish himself in Proteas Test team

Gqeberha – In a Test squad with many quality batters to pick from, 25-year-old Tony de Zorzi has set his sights on cementing his spot in the Proteas team by scoring big hundreds.

The debutant started his career with a victory over the West Indies in the first Test at Centurion after smashing over 500 runs and averaging over 100 in this season’s 4 Day Series.

ALSO READ: Anrich Nortjé injury blow for Proteas ahead of second West Indies Test

De Zorzi said on Monday that it boosted his confidence that he was picked to play in Centurion, while admitting that Test cricket is a level up from domestic cricket.

“When you come in with a few runs you can trust that what you have in your repertoire will be good enough. It definitely helps and hopefully I can bring that form into this game,” said De Zorzi.

“It’s a level up. You obviously are aware that the intensity (of Test cricket) increases and that you’re going to face better bowlers.” De Zorzi added.

The Proteas have a number of options to pick from going into the second Test at the Wanderers starting on Wednesday. Alongside De Zorzi is the in-form Ryan Rickelton who averages over 50 in first-class cricket in his career, with an impressive 15 hundreds to his name.

De Zorzi emphasised that his first goal is to cement his place in the starting XI by scoring big for the Proteas.

“My first goal is to try my best to cement my position, wherever that is, for the team. I can only do that by weight of runs,” he said.

@imongamagcwabe