Aldo van den Berg

Adolf Matthys "Aldo" van den Berg (born 9 March 1978) is a former South African cricketer whose domestic career spanned from 1997 to 2007. A right-handed all-rounder, he played matches for Gauteng, Easterns (which he briefly captained), and Mpumalanga.

Born in Randfontein, van den Berg played for a representative South African Schools team during the 1996–97 season,[1] and the following season, aged 19, made his senior debut for Gauteng, against Easterns in the one-day Standard Bank League. He played two more matches in the same competition the next season,[2] and in July 1999 was selected to tour Ireland and Scotland with the South African Academy team, making his first-class debut as the side's captain.[3] For the 1999–00 domestic season, van den Berg switched to playing for Easterns, where he became a regular in both the one-day and three-day formats. Prior to the 2006–07 season, he switched to Mpumalanga, which had been granted first-class status on a trial basis. In his only season, he was the team's leading wicket-taker in both the three-day and the one-day competition. However, the team did not perform well enough to secure a first-class status for the following season, which meant an end to van den Berg's career at that level.[2][3]

Van den Berg captained Easterns in four first-class matches during the 2001–02 season, in the absence of the regular captain, Derek Crookes. Of the four matches, his team won two, lost one, and drew one.[4] In 34 first-class matches overall, van den Berg recorded two centuries and six half-centuries, with his highest score, 103, coming for Easterns against the touring India A team in March 2002.[5] The other century was made for Mpumalanga against Namibia in November 2006, a score of 100 not out out of a team total of 184.[6] Van den Berg's off-spin garnered him 50 first-class wickets at an average of 33.32, including three five-wicket hauls. Two of those were made for Mpumalanga during the 2006–07 season, while his best figures, 5/49, came against Boland in March 2004.[7] Van den Berg's returns in the one-day format were much diminished, with his 30 matches yielding only 22 wickets and a single half-century (65 against Free State in March 2006).[8]