CIARAN MCCARTHY: The 17-year-old has been nurtured by father Dale but is now facing the prospect of having to follow in his footsteps. And that is some act to have to follow
A four-year-old Luc Benkenstein basked in the glory of his father, Dale, winning the Friends Provident Trophy with Durham in 2007, being carried onto the field and holding the trophy in the celebrations.
Since that moment, Benkenstein has been destined for a career in county cricket.
"Seeing all those guys like Michael Di Venuto, [Shivnarine] Chanderpaul, [Ottis] Gibson, you view them as heroes when you’re younger, so you do kind of want to become that when you’re older," he told The Cricketer.
"But I would definitely say my dad playing has played a big role in me wanting to play professional cricket."
Naturally, the youngster will have the eyes of the sport on him as he transitions from a young talent into, hopefully, a bona fide star in the English game.
His father’s achievements in county cricket were something to behold - he won both the Friends Provident Trophy and the LV= Insurance County Championship, as well as holding the record for the most runs for Durham at one point, and was named a Wisden Cricketer of the Year in 2009. He is now the Gloucestershire head coach.
That is some act to follow.
"The amount of people who have been welcoming to me just because of who my dad is is quite nice, for me, it’s a good thing because it means people like him and he’s left a mark in the county circuit here," he added.
"But obviously at times it’s gonna be a bit of a burden when I’m not playing well and stuff - I’ve had it growing up where if I don’t score runs in my school team or wherever the parents would be going ‘you’re only in here because of your dad’. I’m used to it growing up so I’ve kind of adapted to that and I know it’s bound to happen."
Father Dale celebrating Durham's Friends Provident Trophy win in 2007 (Tom Shaw/Getty Images)
He does, however, have those expectations of himself: "I think he deserved a lot more than he got. I think he would be happy if I became a better player than he was."
"I don’t really see it as pressure, I just want to go out there and make a name for myself really."
Benkenstein is on the right track to do that, and making his Essex debut as a 16-year-old before having played a game in the second XI shows just how much of a talent he is.
Figures of 1 for 30 saw him pick up David Bedingham - not a bad start, all things considered.
It was befitting that the youngster’s county debut came against Durham; a team he watched so often during his father’s career. Almost as if the world was sending him a sign that he was on the right path.
"It was quite funny how it was against Durham," he recalls.
"The amount of people that came up and wanted me to sign my dad’s shirt was more than the amount of people that actually wanted my signature."
There was a further aptness to Benkenstein’s first encounter with a member of the Essex side. While his dad is obviously his hero, the young gun idolised a familiar face within the Chelmsford dressing room.
"When I first got to the club the first person I met was Chef [Alastair Cook].
"I was picked for the South Africa Under-19 squad, and my dad sat down with me and basically said if you want to play for England you’ve got to go to England now."
"At school in South Africa, I actually used to have pictures of Chef all over my prep desk."
Benkenstein was born in Durban, lived in Umhlanga for a couple of years, before moving over to England upon his dad signing for Durham. He returned to South Africa as an 11-year-old and only came back to the UK in April 2021.
His journey to Essex was an interesting one, helped no end by a string of fantastic performances during cubs week - a national youth tournament in South Africa.
Benkenstein was named allrounder of the tournament, following four 50-plus knocks, which saw him finish as the third-highest run-scorer, with 292 runs across five games, as well as seven wickets. He also captained the Hollywoodbets Dolphins side to a third-place finish.
"I was picked for the South Africa Under-19 squad, and my dad sat down with me and basically said if you want to play for England you’ve got to go to England now," he explained.
"Because he’d been at Hampshire, they’d seen a bit of my national tournament and they asked if I would come over. I went and played a bit there, I loved my time there but we just felt like it wasn’t the right place for me.
"I went on holiday to Cornwall to just take a break for a bit and Essex called me up and said would you want to come on a bit of a trial here. I was like 'yeah sure'."
While the 17-year-old’s aspirations to play for England may seem peculiar, given his dad featured 23 games for the Proteas, it is a goal he’s had his heart set on for some time: "Ever since I got serious about my cricket I’ve always been sold on the idea of playing for England."
Breaking into Essex's first team is Benkenstein's focus at the moment (Jan Kruger/Getty Images)
Of course, the journey to that achievement won’t come without its challenges, but Benkenstein is willing to put in the work, and the first step is to nail down a position in the Essex side.
"The one way to get into the first team is just to perform until they have to pick you really, and that’s the thing I love about cricket, the stats don’t really lie," he admitted.
Challenges have been part and parcel of Benkenstein’s journey into English cricket so far, not least thanks to the fact he is used to dry, hard pitches in South Africa. Turning up to try to rip a ball both ways on a pudding in spring was a shock to the leg-spinners system.
"I was definitely surprised last April when I first bowled and I couldn’t turn a ball for about a month."
Naturally, leg-spin reaps fewer rewards in England than it would elsewhere, but Benkenstein is prepared to train and train and train until he is a master of his craft: "I’m just gonna try to perform as consistently as possible in the second team.
"If I can get my batting and my bowling up, hopefully, I can come in and play another allrounder role."
His abilities with both bat and ball, and the raw materials he has brought to England with him certainly give him the potential to be a genuine option on both sides. He will play a lot more cricket in years to come, hone his trade, and get stronger and better.
Ultimately, Benkenstein has something not a lot of people are born with - natural skill. If you were to put money on him becoming a genuine star, that bet would probably pay out some time down the line.
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