Cricket in South Africa
Encyclopedia
Cricket
is the third most popular sport in South Africa, and is popular among English-speaking as well as Afrikaans-speaking whites. South Africa is a leading cricket-playing nation in the world, and is one of 10 countries sanctioned by the International Cricket Council
(ICC) to play Test Cricket
.
It also hosted the 2003 Cricket World Cup
and the inaugural World Twenty20
in 2007.
in South Africa was established by the British, and the first tour by a side from England took place in 1888-89. Here South Africa played its first Test match (against touring England
at Port Elizabeth), becoming the third test nation.
In 1970, the ICC
voted to suspend South Africa from international Cricket indefinitely because of its government's policy of apartheid, an overtly racist policy, which led them to play only against the white nations (England
, Australia
, New Zealand
), and field only white players. This decision excluded players such as Graeme Pollock
from partaking in international Test Cricket. It would also cause the emigration of future stars like Allan Lamb
and Robin Smith
, who both played for England, and Kepler Wessels
, who initially played for Australia, before returning to South Africa
.
The ICC reinstated South Africa as a Test nation in 1991 after the deconstruction of apartheid, and the team played its first sanctioned match since 1970 (and its first ever One-Day International) against India
in Calcutta on 10 November 1991.
was traditionally popular among English-speaking whites, and the Asian / Muslim community, though the latter were not able to compete in top level South African cricket in the Apartheid era. Since the end of the Apartheid era a higher proportion of white players have come from Afrikaans-speaking backgrounds, and attempts have been made to increase the number of non-white players, in part through a quota system. Its popularity has grown markedly amongst other groups, though cricket remains the favourite sport for Asian / Indian / Muslim South Africans as well as people of English descent. This has other reasons, since cricket is a very expensive and typically middle class game, it does not appeal to blacks and coloureds like Association football or rugby union
does.
Today, cricket
is the third most popular sport in South Africa, and is the only sport in the country to feature in the top 2 sports of all race groups. This has had both successes — Herschelle Gibbs
, a Cape Coloured, is one of the sport's most dominating batsmen and the black bowler Makhaya Ntini
reached number 2 in the ICC Player Rankings in 2006 — and unintended side effects. Kevin Pietersen
, who is white, left the country claiming that he was put at a disadvantage by the quota system, and within a few years became one of the world's top batsmen - as a member of the England cricket team.
The quote system has since been repealed.
is the governing body for professional and amateur cricket in South Africa.
South Africa is a full member of the International Cricket Council
and African Cricket Association
with Test
and One Day International status.
(four day first class
competition), the MTN Domestic Championship
(List A one-day
competition) and Standard Bank Pro 20 Series
(domestic Twenty20
competition). During the 1970s and 1980s, a first-class tournament for non-whites called the Howa Bowl
was also played.
Generally encompassing more than one provincial associate team, six first-class teams take part in the SuperSport Series, MTN Championships and Pro 20 Series competitions.
The South Africa national cricket team, also known as the Proteas
are the national cricket
team representing South Africa
. They are administrated by Cricket South Africa
.
South Africa is a full member of the International Cricket Council
with Test
and One Day International status. Through the mid 90's to the present, the Proteas have been labelled as the archetypal chokers
in international cricket, especially due to their not winning a Cricket World Cup
even after being one of the top favourites and their general inability to win the big matches on the big occasions.
A women's team also competes.
Cricket
Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of 11 players on an oval-shaped field, at the centre of which is a rectangular 22-yard long pitch. One team bats, trying to score as many runs as possible while the other team bowls and fields, trying to dismiss the batsmen and thus limit the...
is the third most popular sport in South Africa, and is popular among English-speaking as well as Afrikaans-speaking whites. South Africa is a leading cricket-playing nation in the world, and is one of 10 countries sanctioned by the International Cricket Council
International Cricket Council
The International Cricket Council is the international governing body of cricket. It was founded as the Imperial Cricket Conference in 1909 by representatives from England, Australia and South Africa, renamed the International Cricket Conference in 1965, and took up its current name in 1989.The...
(ICC) to play Test Cricket
Test cricket
Test cricket is the longest form of the sport of cricket. Test matches are played between national representative teams with "Test status", as determined by the International Cricket Council , with four innings played between two teams of 11 players over a period of up to a maximum five days...
.
It also hosted the 2003 Cricket World Cup
2003 Cricket World Cup
-Group stage tables and results:The top three teams from each pool qualify for the next stage, carrying forward the points already scored against fellow qualifiers, plus a quarter of the points scored against the teams that failed to qualify.-Pool A:...
and the inaugural World Twenty20
ICC World Twenty20
The ICC World Twenty20 or ICC World T20 also referred to as the T20 World Cup is the international championship of Twenty20 cricket. The event is organised by the sport's governing body, the International Cricket Council...
in 2007.
History
CricketCricket
Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of 11 players on an oval-shaped field, at the centre of which is a rectangular 22-yard long pitch. One team bats, trying to score as many runs as possible while the other team bowls and fields, trying to dismiss the batsmen and thus limit the...
in South Africa was established by the British, and the first tour by a side from England took place in 1888-89. Here South Africa played its first Test match (against touring England
English cricket team
The England and Wales cricket team is a cricket team which represents England and Wales. Until 1992 it also represented Scotland. Since 1 January 1997 it has been governed by the England and Wales Cricket Board , having been previously governed by Marylebone Cricket Club from 1903 until the end...
at Port Elizabeth), becoming the third test nation.
In 1970, the ICC
International Cricket Council
The International Cricket Council is the international governing body of cricket. It was founded as the Imperial Cricket Conference in 1909 by representatives from England, Australia and South Africa, renamed the International Cricket Conference in 1965, and took up its current name in 1989.The...
voted to suspend South Africa from international Cricket indefinitely because of its government's policy of apartheid, an overtly racist policy, which led them to play only against the white nations (England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
, New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
), and field only white players. This decision excluded players such as Graeme Pollock
Graeme Pollock
Robert Graeme Pollock, known as Graeme, is a former cricketer. He played in 23 Test matches for South Africa and represented Transvaal and Eastern Province at domestic level....
from partaking in international Test Cricket. It would also cause the emigration of future stars like Allan Lamb
Allan Lamb
Allan Joseph Lamb is a former England cricketer and captain who played for the first class teams of Western Province and Northamptonshire, the latter as an Overseas player...
and Robin Smith
Robin Smith (cricketer)
Robin Arnold Smith is a former cricketer for Hampshire and England.Smith was nicknamed Judge or Judgie for his resemblance to a judge when he grew his hair long...
, who both played for England, and Kepler Wessels
Kepler Wessels
Kepler Christoffel Wessels is a former South African cricketer who captained South Africa after playing 24 Tests for Australia. He was the first man to have played One Day International cricket for two countries....
, who initially played for Australia, before returning to South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
.
The ICC reinstated South Africa as a Test nation in 1991 after the deconstruction of apartheid, and the team played its first sanctioned match since 1970 (and its first ever One-Day International) against India
Indian cricket team
The Indian cricket team is the national cricket team of India. Governed by the Board of Control for Cricket in India , it is a full member of the International Cricket Council with Test and One Day International status....
in Calcutta on 10 November 1991.
Demographics
CricketCricket
Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of 11 players on an oval-shaped field, at the centre of which is a rectangular 22-yard long pitch. One team bats, trying to score as many runs as possible while the other team bowls and fields, trying to dismiss the batsmen and thus limit the...
was traditionally popular among English-speaking whites, and the Asian / Muslim community, though the latter were not able to compete in top level South African cricket in the Apartheid era. Since the end of the Apartheid era a higher proportion of white players have come from Afrikaans-speaking backgrounds, and attempts have been made to increase the number of non-white players, in part through a quota system. Its popularity has grown markedly amongst other groups, though cricket remains the favourite sport for Asian / Indian / Muslim South Africans as well as people of English descent. This has other reasons, since cricket is a very expensive and typically middle class game, it does not appeal to blacks and coloureds like Association football or rugby union
Rugby union
Rugby union, often simply referred to as rugby, is a full contact team sport which originated in England in the early 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand...
does.
Today, cricket
Cricket
Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of 11 players on an oval-shaped field, at the centre of which is a rectangular 22-yard long pitch. One team bats, trying to score as many runs as possible while the other team bowls and fields, trying to dismiss the batsmen and thus limit the...
is the third most popular sport in South Africa, and is the only sport in the country to feature in the top 2 sports of all race groups. This has had both successes — Herschelle Gibbs
Herschelle Gibbs
Herschelle Herman Gibbs is a South African cricketer, more specifically a batsman.Gibbs was schooled at St Joseph's Marist College and then Diocesan College in Rondebosch...
, a Cape Coloured, is one of the sport's most dominating batsmen and the black bowler Makhaya Ntini
Makhaya Ntini
Makhaya Ntini is a former South African cricketer who was the first ethnically black player to play for the South African team. A fast bowler, he tends to bowl from wide of the crease with brisk, although not express, pace...
reached number 2 in the ICC Player Rankings in 2006 — and unintended side effects. Kevin Pietersen
Kevin Pietersen
Kevin Peter Pietersen, MBE is a South African-born English cricketer. He is a right-handed batsman and occasional off spin bowler who plays for England and Surrey...
, who is white, left the country claiming that he was put at a disadvantage by the quota system, and within a few years became one of the world's top batsmen - as a member of the England cricket team.
The quote system has since been repealed.
Governing body
Formerly known as the United Cricket Board of South Africa, Cricket South AfricaCricket South Africa
Cricket South Africa is the governing body for professional and amateur cricket in South Africa. The board was originally created as the United Cricket Board of South Africa in 1991.-History:...
is the governing body for professional and amateur cricket in South Africa.
South Africa is a full member of the International Cricket Council
International Cricket Council
The International Cricket Council is the international governing body of cricket. It was founded as the Imperial Cricket Conference in 1909 by representatives from England, Australia and South Africa, renamed the International Cricket Conference in 1965, and took up its current name in 1989.The...
and African Cricket Association
African Cricket Association
The African Cricket Association is an international body which oversees cricket in African countries. The ACA was founded in 1997, and has 20 member countries...
with Test
Test cricket
Test cricket is the longest form of the sport of cricket. Test matches are played between national representative teams with "Test status", as determined by the International Cricket Council , with four innings played between two teams of 11 players over a period of up to a maximum five days...
and One Day International status.
Domestic Cricket
South Africa's three major domestic competitions are the SuperSport SeriesSuperSport Series
The SuperSport Series is the main domestic first class cricket competition in South Africa, first contested in 1889-90. From 1990-91 it became known as the Castle Cup, and from 1996-97 by its current title...
(four day first class
First-class cricket
First-class cricket is a class of cricket that consists of matches of three or more days' scheduled duration, that are between two sides of eleven players and are officially adjudged first-class by virtue of the standard of the competing teams...
competition), the MTN Domestic Championship
MTN Domestic Championship
The 1 Day Cup is the premier domestic one-day cricket competition of South Africa, its matches having List A status...
(List A one-day
One-day cricket
Limited overs cricket, also known as one-day cricket and in a slightly different context as List A cricket, is a version of the sport of cricket in which a match is generally completed in one day, whereas Test and first-class matches can take up to five days to complete...
competition) and Standard Bank Pro 20 Series
Standard Bank Pro 20 Series
The Standard Bank Pro20 Series is the premier Twenty20 cricket competition in South Africa, first contested in the 2003–04 season. The Knights, the Titans and the Cape Cobras have each won the title twice and are the most successful teams....
(domestic Twenty20
Twenty20
Twenty20 is a form of cricket, originally introduced in England for professional inter-county competition by the England and Wales Cricket Board , in 2003. A Twenty20 game involves two teams, each has a single innings, batting for a maximum of 20 overs. Twenty20 cricket is also known as T20 cricket...
competition). During the 1970s and 1980s, a first-class tournament for non-whites called the Howa Bowl
Howa Bowl
The Howa Bowl was a first-class cricket competition in South Africa that ran from the 1972-73 to 1990-91 cricket seasons. Originally known as the Dadabhay Trophy, it was contested between Eastern Province, Natal, Transvaal and Western Province....
was also played.
Generally encompassing more than one provincial associate team, six first-class teams take part in the SuperSport Series, MTN Championships and Pro 20 Series competitions.
- Cape CobrasCape CobrasThe Nashua Mobile Cape Cobras often shortened to Cape Cobras or Cobras is the name used since the 2005–06 season by the combined Western Province and Boland first class cricket teams in South African domestic cricket. The joint Western Province and Boland team was named Western Province Boland for...
(Boland/Western ProvinceWestern Province cricket teamWestern Province cricket team is the team representing Western Cape province in domestic first-class cricket in South Africa. The team began playing in January 1890 and its main venue has always been Newlands in Cape Town.-Honours:...
) - DolphinsDolphins cricket teamThe Sunfoil Dolphins is the name used by the KwaZulu Natal cricket team when it plays in the South African SuperSport Series first class competition; also in the MTN Domestic Championship and Standard Bank Twenty20 limited over competitions...
(KwaZulu NatalKwaZulu Natal cricket teamThe KwaZulu-Natal cricket team is the first-class cricket team that represents the province of KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa...
) - EaglesEagles cricket teamThe Chevrolet Knights is the name used by the combined Free State cricket team and Griqualand West first class cricket teams in South Africa. The team previously competed as the Diamond Eagles...
(Free StateOrange Free State cricket teamThe Free State cricket team is the first-class cricket team representing the province of Free State in South Africa....
/Griqualand WestGriqualand West cricket teamThe Griqualand West cricket team is the first-class cricket team that represents the province of Griqualand West in South Africa. For the purposes of the SuperSport Series, Griqualand West has merged with Free State to form the Eagles from October 2004....
) - LionsHighveld Lions cricket teamThe Highveld Lions is the name used by the combined Gauteng and North West first class cricket teams in South Africa. The home venues are the New Wanderers Stadium in Johannesburg and Senwes Park in Potchefstroom....
(Gauteng/North WestNorth West cricket teamNorth West cricket team plays first-class cricket in South Africa.For the purposes of the SuperSport Series, North West has merged with Gauteng North West cricket team (formerly Western Transvaal cricket team) plays first-class cricket in South Africa.For the purposes of the SuperSport Series,...
) - TitansTitans cricket teamThe Nashua Titans is the name used by the combined Easterns and Northerns first class cricket teams in South Africa. The home venues of the Titans are at SuperSport Park, Centurion and Willowmoore Park, Benoni...
(EasternsEasterns cricket teamEasterns cricket team has played first-class cricket in South Africa since October 1991.For the purposes of the SuperSport Series, Easterns has merged with Northerns to form the Titans.-Honours:* Currie Cup - 2002–03; shared - * Standard Bank Cup - * South African...
/NorthernsNortherns cricket teamNortherns cricket team has played first-class cricket in South Africa since December 1937....
) - WarriorsWarriors cricket teamThe Chevrolet Warriors is the name used by the combined Eastern Province and Border first class cricket teams in South Africa. The home venues of the Warriors are St George's Park, Port Elizabeth and Buffalo Park, East London....
(Eastern ProvinceEastern Province cricket teamEastern Province cricket team is the team representing the Eastern Province in domestic first-class cricket in South Africa.-Honours:* Currie Cup - 1988–89, 1991–92; shared - 1989–90* Standard Bank Cup - 1989–90, 1991–92...
/BorderBorder cricket teamBorder cricket team is the team representing the Border province in domestic first-class cricket in South Africa. The team began playing in March 1898....
)
National teams
Protea
Protea is both the botanical name and the English common name of a genus of flowering plants, sometimes also called sugarbushes.-Etymology:...
are the national cricket
Cricket
Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of 11 players on an oval-shaped field, at the centre of which is a rectangular 22-yard long pitch. One team bats, trying to score as many runs as possible while the other team bowls and fields, trying to dismiss the batsmen and thus limit the...
team representing South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
. They are administrated by Cricket South Africa
Cricket South Africa
Cricket South Africa is the governing body for professional and amateur cricket in South Africa. The board was originally created as the United Cricket Board of South Africa in 1991.-History:...
.
South Africa is a full member of the International Cricket Council
International Cricket Council
The International Cricket Council is the international governing body of cricket. It was founded as the Imperial Cricket Conference in 1909 by representatives from England, Australia and South Africa, renamed the International Cricket Conference in 1965, and took up its current name in 1989.The...
with Test
Test cricket
Test cricket is the longest form of the sport of cricket. Test matches are played between national representative teams with "Test status", as determined by the International Cricket Council , with four innings played between two teams of 11 players over a period of up to a maximum five days...
and One Day International status. Through the mid 90's to the present, the Proteas have been labelled as the archetypal chokers
Choke (sports)
In sports, a "choke" is the failure of an athlete or an athletic team to win a game or tournament when the player or team had been strongly favored to win or had squandered a large lead in the late stages of the event...
in international cricket, especially due to their not winning a Cricket World Cup
Cricket World Cup
The ICC Cricket World Cup is the premier international championship of men's One Day International cricket. The event is organised by the sport's governing body, the International Cricket Council , with preliminary qualification rounds leading up to a finals tournament which is held every four years...
even after being one of the top favourites and their general inability to win the big matches on the big occasions.
A women's team also competes.