Cricket writer Edward Bevan discusses some of Glamorgan’s best South African players.
The affiliation that Glamorgan has with South African-born cricketers continues, with the news that they hope to sign fast bowler Dale Steyn for the early stages of this season’s T20 Blast competition’.
The current captain Jacques Rudolph and middle order batsman Colin Ingram are the latest recruits, but the first South African born player to represent the county was all-rounder Rodney Ontong, who arrived in 1975 after spending two years on the Lord’s ground staff with, among others, Sir Ian Botham.
Ontong also captained the county for three years and was an influential player for the club in the 14 years he spent there. Chris Smith did play one game for Glamorgan against Sri Lanka in 1979, before joining his brother Robin at Hampshire and going on to play eight games for England.
Corrie Van Zyl, now an administrator with Cricket South Africa, was a more than useful seamer who played for two years after joining in 1987, while another opening bowler Garnett Kruger played just the one season in 2008 as a Kolpak player.
Due to international commitments, Jacques Kallis was unfortunately available for only six games and eight one-day matches, but the world class all-rounder will always be remembered for the unbeaten 155 he scored at Pontypridd on his debut in a 40-over game after flying in to Heathrow the previous day.
Herschelle Gibbs appeared briefly in 2009 for five T20 games, before Alviro Petersen took over as captain for a year. Martin Van Jaarsveld played two games at the end of his career, while Wayne Parnell proved a useful acquisition in T20 cricket last year.
Steyn, regarded as one of the world’s fastest and best bowlers, will return from India after playing in the Indian Premier League, is sure to make an impression and will excite Glamorgan followers, not only with his extreme pace, but also with his ambition to succeed.
Whether he is quicker than Shaun Tait is debatable, but Welsh fans could have the opportunity to judge for themselves if the Australian bowler replaces Steyn for the second half of Glamorgan’s T20 season.
Bevan’s Glamorgan South African XI: Gibbs, Petersen, Rudolph, Van Jaarsveld, Kallis, Ingram, Smith, Ontong, Parnell, Van Zyl, Kruger.