South Africa
Rankings: ODI - 3rd, Test - 1st
Current Players
Team Bio
The South African Cricket Team, also known as The Proteas, is the national cricket team representing South Africa and administrated by Cricket South Africa. South Africa is a full member of the International Cricket Council with Test and one-day international status.
Cricket in South Africa was established by the British, and the first tour by a side from England took place in 1888-89. South Africa played its first Test match (against a touring England side at Port Elizabeth), becoming the third Test nation. However, in 1970, the ICC voted to suspend the team 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 stalwart Graeme Pollock from partaking in international Test Cricket. Such a move caused the exodus of bright future prospects 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 team was reinstated in 1991 as a Test nation after the deconstruction of apartheid, and the team played its first official match since 1970 (and its first ever ODI) against India in Calcutta on 10 November 1991.
Since the reinstatement, the Proteas have had mixed success. Even when the team has been considered to be a favourite to win a tournament, good fortune deserts it. The “chokers” tag has always haunted them considering the sides containing players like Allan Donald, Hansie Cronje and Shaun Pollock have always underachieved in key matches. The team has reached the semi-finals of the Cricket World Cup three times, but has failed to progress into the finals, with Herschelle Gibbs famously dropping Australian captain Steve Waugh in 1999 in a round-robin game. The match-fixing scandal that shook the cricketing fraternity got momentum from Cronje’s claims. With his mysterious death in a plane crash, a chapter in South African cricket closed. Due to a racial quota policy, the side now contains black players, unlike the past, and it is currently captained by Graeme Smith.
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Upcoming Matches
- 27 Nov,2009 12:30 PM GMT | 3rd ODI South Africa Vs England Newlands, Cape Town
- 29 Nov,2009 08:00 AM GMT | 4th ODI South Africa Vs England St George's Park, Port Elizabeth
- 04 Dec,2009 12:30 PM GMT | 5th ODI South Africa Vs England Kingsmead, Durban
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