Gareth Berg

South Africa

Full name Gareth Kyle Berg

Born January 18, 1981, Cape Town, Cape Province

Current age 37 years 94 days

Major teams Italy, Middlesex, Western Province

Nickname Ice, Bergy, Ford

Batting style Right-hand bat

Bowling style Right-arm medium-fast

Height 6 ft 0 in

Education South African College School

Explore Gareth Berg's performance

Batting and fielding averages

	Mat	Inns	NO	Runs	HS	Ave	BF	SR	100	50	4s	6s	Ct
First-class	114	172	21	4595	130*	30.43	6910	66.49	2	26	586	50	61
List A	81	61	10	1151	75	22.56	1281	89.85	0	5	99	12	30
T20s	80	61	21	987	90	24.67	774	127.51	0	3	96	23	21

Bowling averages

	Mat	Inns	Balls	Runs	Wkts	BBI	BBM	Ave	Econ	SR	4w	5w
First-class	114	178	14998	7475	242	6/56	7/45	30.88	2.99	61.9	10	4
List A	81	67	2549	2280	64	4/24	4/24	35.62	5.36	39.8	4	0
T20s	80	76	1417	1845	68	4/20	4/20	27.13	7.81	20.8	1	0

Career statistics

First-class debut	Middlesex v Glamorgan at Lord's, Apr 23-26, 2008 scorecard
Last First-class	Hampshire v Worcestershire at Southampton, Apr 13-16, 2018 scorecard
List A debut	Surrey v Middlesex at The Oval, Apr 20, 2008 scorecard
Last List A	Combined Campuses and Colleges v Hampshire at Lucas Street, Feb 15, 2018 scorecard
T20s debut	Sussex v Middlesex at Hove, Jun 1, 2009 scorecard
Last T20s	Hampshire v Nottinghamshire at Birmingham, Sep 2, 2017 scorecard

Recent matches

Bat & Bowl	Team	Opposition	Ground	Match Date	Scorecard
75*, 2/46, 10, 1/26	Hampshire	v Worcs	Southampton	13 Apr 2018	FC
-	Hampshire	v Cardiff MCCU	Southampton	7 Apr 2018	FC
3/28	Hampshire	v Comb C&C	Lucas Street	15 Feb 2018	LA
1/49	Hampshire	v Barbados	Lucas Street	13 Feb 2018	LA
11, 1/26	Hampshire	v Trinidad & T	Cave Hill	9 Feb 2018	LA
2, 0/36	Hampshire	v Windward Is	Bridgetown	7 Feb 2018	LA
0, 1/26	Hampshire	v Comb C&C	Bridgetown	5 Feb 2018	LA
5*, 0/28	Hampshire	v Barbados	Bridgetown	1 Feb 2018	LA
0/27	M.C.C.	v Hong Kong	Kowloon	29 Oct 2017	Other OD
1/17	M.C.C.	v Bangladesh	Kowloon	29 Oct 2017	Other OD

Profile

A bustling, brisk seam bowler and middle-order batsman, Gareth Berg learned his cricket in South Africa, playing a handful of one-day games for Western Province B, before moving to live in England and pro on the club scene.

In 2004 he played for Northamptonshire 2nd XI without breaking into the first team, then in 2007 was signed by Middlesex at 26. In the 2008 pre-season he took five wickets against England Under-19s on his home ground at Radlett, gaining him his first-team debut. In 2011 his all-round ability helped Middlesex to win Championship promotion as he averaged 41.87 with the bat and 19.96 with the ball.

It was for Middlesex that he scored his last first-class hundred: 130 not out in the first innings of a match against Leicestershire in 2011 that secured the county's promotion to Division One. In the second innings, with 124 needed for victory, Berg smashed six, four, then six to seal victory. The moment was immortalised in a tattoo of three dice on his left forearm showing six, four, six. It supplemented a Batman tattoo on the same arm.

A year later, as if to emphasise that he was a singular man, he was representing Italy in the 2012 World T20 qualifiers through the Italian passport that helped bring him to the UK.

He continued to make valuable contributions with the bat and ball thereafter, impressing in all three formats of the game and topping 4,000 runs and 200 wickets overall for Middlesex. But a persistent shoulder injury restricted him to just one game in his final season. Middlesex then cancelled the remaining year of his contract.

His career seemed over but he approached his rehab with stiffened resolve, Hampshire took a punt on him and it paid off handsomely. Envisaged as a potentially useful addition, he exceeded expectations, being named the supporters' and players' player of the year as he scored 674 runs and took 43 wickets in first-class cricket. No innings was more striking than his first-innings 72 against Nottinghamshire in Hampshire's final match of the season as they guaranteed their Division One status in the Championship. He called his recovery "humbling". Surgery on a knee injury disrupted his 2016 season but he recovered to earn two further one-year deal.

Berg's combative spirit was valued by Hampshire, even if frustratingly he became a master of the 99 - his highest score for the county. He made one against Sussex in 2015 and again, two years later watched as last man Brad Wheal edged Joe Root to slip with 99 to his name against Yorkshire at the Ageas Bowl; he channelled his frustration into a four-wicket burst to wreck Yorkshire's top order.
ESPNcricinfo staff

Gareth Berg

South Africa

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