Following a back injury sustained during last Sunday's match at Forthill, Cameron did not play this weekend so I took the opportunity to ask him some questions.

Cameron is our Overseas Amateur player for the current 2024 season and hails from South Africa. This is his third season of cricket in the UK, previously having played in Gloucestershire and Essex.

He finds the wickets up here to be less hard than expected meaning the ball does not come onto the bat as quickly as those at home in Johannesburg. Being a quick bowler as well as a top order batsman he has had to adjust his game, fortunately for us it has been successful, although he has been surprised at the low temperatures to date.

It is the first time he has used a pink ball and finds the need for it to be rotated after every over to be puzzling. Another big difference is the atmosphere……the Highveld is 1700 meters above sea level so the trajectory of the ball is quite different. In Aberdeen it comes through the air slightly slower and with a less flat trajectory making a catch in the deep quite different. Another comparison is that he finds the way the game is played in Scotland to be quite different, using his own words “ at home it is more brutal”

Best Innings to date – 89 against Stoneywood-Dyce in the league.. Particularly memorable because he clobbered their fast bowler who is a mate from back home in Jo’burg, they flew over together.
(The return match on August 17th should be interesting.)

Thoughts on Scottish food – prefers the spice and sauces of South Africa

Favourite food – BBQ’s at home (called Braaievleis or braai)

Favourite drink – Coke and the occasional Guinness

Observation about north east Scotland – how many South Africans now live here

Cameron has a British passport having strong family roots in Scotland. His grandfather came from Glasgow moving to South Africa fifty years ago and he has an uncle living in Ayrshire. Following the wish of his grandmother he has an ambition to settle in Scotland and play cricket for Scotland. He plans to come back here early in the New Year sensibly avoiding some of our winter.

We wish him good luck with his ambitions and hope he chooses to establish himself with the national team using Aberdeenshire CC for the pathway.