South Africa Cricket Team - All You Need to Know

South Africa Cricket Team - History

When the Dutch East India Company established the Cape Colony in 1652, European colonization of South Africa officially started. The British had little interest in Africa until they conquered the Cape Colony in 1775 during the French Revolution.

In South Africa, the first recorded cricket game was played in 1808.

South Africa cricket team played their first test match in 1889, becoming the third team to do so.

They won their first game against England in 1906 and went on to win the series 4-1. Quality players, including Jimmy Sinclair, Bonnor Middleton, Dave Nourse, Charlie Llewellyn, Aubrey Faulkner, Percy Sherwell, Bert Vogler, and Tip Snooke, helped their squad grow in stature.

South Africa then toured Australia for the very first time in 1910. They won the series by 4-1, the first time they beat Australia.

They competed in a triangular competition against England and Australia, the two other test countries at the time, in 1912.

When World War-I broke out, international cricket was put on hold until the end of 1918.

The 1920s were a dry spell for South African cricket, but that changed in the 1930s with the development of outstanding players like Alan Melville, Dudley Nourse, Pieter van der Bijl, and Ken Viljoen.

Due to the stringent Apartheid regulations enacted in 1948, no non-white individual was permitted to play cricket South Africa.

In 1970, the International Cricket Council (ICC) agreed to exclude South Africa from all international cricket, and some of their best players, such as Robin Smith and Allan Lamb, moved to England to play for them.

They played their first match back (and their first ODI) against India in November 1991. Their first test match after readmission was against the West Indies in April of the following year.

They became the world's top test team when they defeated England 2-0 in 2012. As a result, they became the first side to dominate the ICC cricket rankings in all three forms.

At present, they have a good team that can compete with the best on their day. Mark Boucher is their head coach, Dean Elgar is their Test captain, Temba Bavuma is their ODI captain, and Quinton de Kock is their T20 captain.

Test Matches

The South African National Cricket team wears whites for test matches. On the left side of the South African cricket whites are the king protea symbol and the country's distinctive flag. The name and logo of the sponsor can be seen on the right. They also wear a white sun hat or a green cap when they are on the field. Both caps feature the Cricket South Africa emblem. They bat while wearing green helmets with the Cricket South Africa emblem.

ODI and T20 Matches

The shirt in 50-over cricket is light green with dark green sleeves, whereas the shirt in 20-over cricket is yellow with green at the end of the sleeves. When playing limited-overs cricket, the king protea badge and the country's flag are on the left of the t-shirt, while the sponsor's logo is on the right. Both versions of the trousers are green. During fielding, they will wear a green cap or sun hat with the Cricket South Africa logo.

South Africa Cricket Team - Best Players

Over the years, South Africa has produced numerous exceptional cricketers, including Hashim Amla and AB de Villiers. We will now look at three outstanding players currently playing for them.

Faf du Plessis

At the age of 26, he made his ODI debut for South Africa squad, and he has since become a crucial player for the national team in all game formats. He hit a century in his first test match in 2012, making him the fourth South African player to do so.

He has scored 4163 runs (10 centuries and 21 half-centuries) at an average of 40.03 in 69 test matches. In 143 One-Day Internationals, he has scored 5,507 runs (12 centuries and 35 half-centuries) at an average of 47.47. He has appeared in 50 T20 matches and scored 1,528 runs, averaging 35.53 (maximum score of 119).

Temba Bavuma

Temba Bavuma made his Test debut for the Saffers against the West Indies in 2014 but had to wait over two years for his maiden ODI for his country. Three years later, he made his South African T20I debut. As you can see, he had to wait patiently for his opportunity in all three forms, but he grabbed it when it came. He was the first black African player to hit a Test century and the team's first captain.

He has scored 2,097 runs (1 century and 15 half-centuries) at an average of 32.26 in 44 Test matches. In 13 One-Day Internationals, he has scored 499 runs (1 century and two half-centuries) at an average of 49.90. In 17 Twenty20 International games, he has scored 422 runs at an average of 26.37. He is 31 years old. Thus, he still has time to improve these statistics.

Kagiso Rabada

Kagiso Rabada made his South African debut in 2014 at the age of 19 and has since established himself in all three formats of the game. In 2016, he became the first player to be named Test Cricketer of the Year, Cricketer of the Year, and ODI Cricketer of the Year at Cricket South Africa's annual banquet.

In the 47 test matches he has played, he has 213 wickets at an average of 22.75. This includes ten 5-wicket hauls and four 10-wicket hauls. In 81 One-Day Internationals, he has taken 126 scalps at an average of 27.58. (1 5-wicket haul). He has dismissed 42 batsmen with an average of 26.61 in 36 T20 matches. He is undoubtedly a cricketer who will be a long-term member of the South African national side.

How Have Cricket South Africa Performed Against Other Nations?