Nealan van Heerden

Nealan is an incredibly talented sportsman from Kimberley, South Africa. Now based in Bleomfontein, he has represented the Free State province across all 3 formats since his debut in 2017. A left-handed lower order Batsman not known for his exploits with the bat in hand, Nealan is a genuinely quick Right-arm Fast seamer that bowls with raw pace, swing and is able to get awkward bounce through effort and a “heavy ball”.

Schooled at Northern Cape High School, Nealan was a schoolboy sports star. Not only did he represent his native Griqualand West/Northern Cape in Cricket from U13 upwards, he was also a Provincial Hockey representative from U16 level, captaining the province at each age group. Having been prolific with the ball through the age groups, he was a surprise omission from consecutive Khaya Majola Coke Week but would not wait long for higher honours as he debuted for Free State in January 2017 at just 20.

A constantly improving seamer, his form in red ball cricket has been excellent, collecting 52 wickets @ 24.92 since the start of summer 2017-18 at an impressive strike rate of 43.01. Nealan has proved to be a real “go to” bowler for his provincial captains, using him in short bursts, he has not been over bowled as he continues to mature as a seamer. Nealan has been clocked at well over 140km/h.

In summer 2022, Nealan headed to the UK for the first time, joining Little Stoke CC in the North Staffordshire South Cheshire League. Visa delays kept his stint to 18 games but was enough to see him nab 32 wickets @ 18.03 with a best of 4-29.

A keen coach, Nealan completed his Cricket South Africa Level 2 coaching qualification in 2017 and now he seeks to head to the UK again next summer and will be an excellent all-round pick up for any UK club seeking a genuine new ball bowler that is just as useful off the field as he is on it.