Former Easterns, Gauteng and Mpumalanga all-rounder Aldo van den Berg has died.
Van den Berg was 45 years old.
His first-class career spanned 1999 to 2007 and included 23 matches for Easterns, seven for Mpumalanga and four for South Africa Academy.
He also played List A cricket for Easterns, Gauteng and Mpumalanga.
“Devastated, shocked. What a man. Top all-rounder. Top human being . The good die young,” former team-mate and current Easterns head coach Geoffrey Toyana wrote on social media.
Former Proteas spinner Eddie Leie added: “Incredibly sad news to hear of the passing of Aldo van den Berg. This man played an important role in my cricketing career.
“He sat me down. And one day said, ‘Eddie – if it is not because of your attitude, you will play for the World XI’. I asked him to help me to manage it. He did. The rest is history. This man changed the trajectory of my career. This man was a fighter, the realist and the ‘tell like it is’ type of person.”
Van den Berg captained Easterns on occasion in the absence of regular captain Derek Crookes.
He scored a century for Easterns against a touring India A XI featuring several Test cricketers in 2002.
In 1997, he played for Nottinghamshire during the Second Eleven Championship in the United Kingdom.