A momentous Christmas for the Bosch family

"Mom? Sorry, but I'm going to ruin your Christmas holiday." Words to that effect were the gist of what Corbin Bosch told his mother on Monday after he found out he would make his Test debut against Pakistan in Centurion on Thursday.

"When Shukri [Conrad] called me aside, I thought maybe I'm in trouble," Bosch told reporters on Tuesday. "But he asked if my parents were coming to the match. I said if I'm playing my mom and my stepdad were going to come. He said tell them they should come."

Bosch's mother, Karen-Anne Bosch, and her husband, Brian van Onselen, had decided to spend Christmas in Kenton-on-Sea, an Eastern Cape coastal resort 1,000 kilometres from Centurion. Those plans have changed.

On the subject of holidays …

"I've given up vacations," Bosch said. "I've given up having a party or two, and maybe going out drinking. It's about getting up early on a cold winter's morning and going to the gym, and making sure that I'm trying to get the most out of each and every single training session and each and every single gym session. It's a whole bunch of little sacrifices here and there. It's nothing major, but it's finally feeling worth it."

And how. Bosch made his ODI debut against the Pakistanis at the Wanderers on Sunday. He took 1/69 and scored an unbeaten 40 off 44 balls. When he came to the crease, in the 29th over, South Africa were 194/6 – their chances of reeling in their target of 308 in 47 overs were steadily receding. They were dismissed for 271 in 42. But nothing could take the shine off Bosch's day.

He had been waiting for it since before he played in the team that won the 2014 under-19 World Cup. Four other members of the XI who beat Pakistan by six wickets in the final in Dubai have since played at senior international level, among them Aiden Markram and Kagiso Rabada. While Bosch didn't have to bat in the decider, he outbowled even Rabada by taking 4/15.

That was more than 10 years ago. Did Bosch think he had missed the senior international boat?

"International cricket is never guaranteed for anybody. I always knew I was going to have to put in the hard work, and it's always been motivating me.

"It's taken a long time. Doubts begin to creep in, especially the longer you go without having a taste. I played some really good cricket in patches, and I thought, okay cool, if it's not now then when is it ever going to happen?

"I had a real determination that this is something that I really, really wanted. I've always strived, and this moment means that all my hard work, all the blood, the sweat, the tears, have culminated in me finally making my Test debut.

"This is the cap I most wanted out of all the international caps, the Test cap. Test cricket means the most to me."

His brother, Eathan Bosch, also a professional cricketer, was at the Wanderers on Sunday. He wore an original 1992 World Cup playing shirt. It was several sizes too big for him, but that didn't matter. What did was that it was first worn by Corbin's and Eathan's father, Tertius Bosch, who played in the tournament. Tertius wasn't there to wear the shirt himself because he died in February 2000, exactly a month before what would have been his 34th birthday.

Tertius Bosch, who trained to be a dentist, was a wildly popular fast bowler at domestic level in South Africa during the last few of the 22 years in which the country's all-white teams were isolated from the international arena because of apartheid.

Tall and handsome, Bosch was blessed with a beautiful bowling action. People also looked forward to seeing him bat, because he made a comically poor No. 11. He took 210 wickets at 27.56 in his 68 first-class matches.

Bosch played against New Zealand and West Indies at the '92 World Cup, taking no wickets. But, in South Africa's first Test after isolation, against West Indies in Barbados in April that year, he had Brian Lara caught behind and bowled Phil Simmons. That would be his only Test.

Less than eight years later he was dead. The cause was given as Guillain-Barre syndrome, a rare wasting disease that attacks the muscles and the nervous system. But suspicions of poisoning led to his body being exhumed for testing twice in the following four years. No-one has been charged with killing him.

Centurion, where Tertius played 30 first-class matches, was his home ground. As it is Corbin's.

"I love this place," Corbin said. "The atmosphere is always fantastic, and it's a ground that I'm so well accustomed to. It's where he played most of his cricket. So I cannot be more grateful to spend such a momentous occasion here."

If you're wondering why Corbin Bosch wears No. 14, here's a clue: his father was born on March 14, 1966 and he died on Valentine's Day, February 14, 2000. And, of course, there's the 2014 under-19 World Cup.

Come in, No. 14. Your time is now.