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.

A keen coach, Nealan completed his Cricket South Africa Level 2 coaching qualification in 2017 and now he seeks to head to the UK for the first time in 2021 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.