Van Biljon has been knocking on the Proteas door for quite some time and at the age of 33-years-old, he has finally received a call-up for the first time.

While the top-order batsman has been in sublime form for the Knights during the Domestic 4-Day Series, he has impressed with the willow for both the Jozi Stars and the Tshwane Spartans during the first two editions of the Mzansi Super League.

Proteas coach, Mark Boucher, has indicated that he will use the series to test players ahead of the T20 World Cup this year.

Van Biljon led the Knights during the Momentum One-Day Cup game against the Dolphins at Kingsmead in Durban, however, he missed out in Bloemfontein last week against the Warriors.

This was as Van Biljon was nursing a freak heel injury he sustained during a net session in training.

Van Biljon told OFM Sport that despite nursing a slight injury he is ready.

“I’m very excited to be joining up with the Proteas squad and it has been a dream for a long time.

“I got injured when I got hit on my heel. Raynard van Tonder hit a drive and I had my back to the net, which was a pretty silly thing to do.

“The ball hit me on my heel, and it has just been flaring up over the last few weeks. That I was I took last week off.

“Not even knowing that I got the call-up. Everything happens for a reason I guess.

Interestingly enough, Van Biljon's younger sister, Suzaan, swam for South Africa during the 2008 (Beijing) and 2012 (London) Olympics.

Van Biljon is the second Knights player to receive a national call-up during the current summer after the batsman, Keegan Petersen, was included in the Test squad for the series against England. He did however not feature in any of the four Tests.

The young all-rounder, Gerald Coetzee, was also on national duty, but this was for the Junior Proteas during the recent ICC U19 Cricket World Cup. Coetzee played a limited role in the tournament as he is nursing a badly cut toe, which could still keep him out of the Knights MODC fixture against the Dolphins on Bloemfontein on Friday.

The first T20 International between South Africa and England will be played on Wednesday at Buffalo Park in East London.

@MorganPiek OFM Sport