CRICKETERS from South Africa

Top 7

The following people are considered by Pantheon to be the most legendary South African Cricketers of all time. This list of famous South African Cricketers is sorted by HPI (Historical Popularity Index), a metric that aggregates information on a biography’s online popularity.

1. AB de Villiers (1984 - )

With an HPI of 24.06, AB de Villiers is the most famous South African Cricketer.  His biography has been translated into 20 different languages on wikipedia.

Abraham Benjamin de Villiers (born 17 February 1984) is a South African former international cricketer, and a current commentator. AB de Villiers was named as the ICC ODI Player of the Year three times during his 15-year international career and was one of the five Wisden cricketers of the decade at the end of 2019. He is regarded as one of the greatest cricketers in the history of the sport and as one of the best batsmen of his era. de Villiers began his international career as a wicket-keeper-batsman, but he has played most often solely as a batsman. He batted at various positions in the batting order, but predominantly in the middle-order. Regarded as one of the most innovative and destructive batsmen in the modern era, de Villiers is known for a range of unorthodox shots, particularly behind the wicket-keeper. He made his international debut in a Test match against England in 2004 and first played a One Day International (ODI) in early 2005. His debut in Twenty20 International cricket came in 2006. He scored over 8,000 runs in both Test and ODI cricket and is one of the very few batsmen to have a batting average of over fifty in both forms of the game. In limited overs cricket, he is an attacking player. He holds the record for the fastest ODI fifty (16 balls), fastest ODI century (31 balls), and fastest ODI 150 (62 balls). De Villiers captained South Africa in all three formats, although after a series of injuries, he stepped down from the Test captaincy. In 2017, he stepped down from captaining the national limited-overs games and in May 2018, he announced his retirement from all forms of international cricket. In January 2020, however, de Villiers expressed an interest in making an international comeback and play in the 2020 T20 World Cup, although later in the year it was confirmed that he would not do so. On 19 November 2021, de Villiers announced his retirement from all forms of cricket.

2. Jacques Kallis (1975 - )

With an HPI of 22.63, Jacques Kallis is the 2nd most famous South African Cricketer.  His biography has been translated into 21 different languages.

Jacques Henry Kallis OIS (born 16 October 1975) is a South African cricket coach and former professional cricketer. Widely regarded as one of the greatest cricketers of all time and as the greatest all-rounder ever to play the game, he is a right-handed batsman and right-arm fast-medium swing bowler. As of 2022, Kallis is the only cricketer in the history of the game to score more than 10,000 runs and take over 250 wickets in both ODI and Test match cricket. He has also taken 131 ODI catches. He scored 13,289 runs in his Test match career, took 292 wickets, and 200 catches. Kallis scored 45 Test match centuries and is the third highest test match run scorer in history. Kallis won 23 Man-of-the-Match awards, the most by any player in Test history. He was declared the Player of the Tournament in South Africa's victorious 1998 ICC KnockOut Trophy (now referred to as ICC Champions Trophy) campaign, which to date is South Africa's only ICC tournament win in their history. Kallis finished as the 2nd highest run-scorer in the tournament and was its leading wicket taker with 'Man of the Match' awards in both the semi-final and the final. In the 1998 ICC KnockOut Trophy Final, Kallis picked up a spell of 5 wickets for 30 runs. Kallis played 166 Test matches and had a batting average of over 55 runs. From October to December 2007, he scored five centuries in four Test matches. With his century in the second innings of the third Test against India in January 2011, his 40th in all, he moved past Ricky Ponting to become the second-highest scorer of Test centuries, behind only Sachin Tendulkar's 51. Kallis was named Leading Cricketer in the World in 2008 Wisden for his performances in 2007 in addition to being the "ICC Test Player of the Year" and ICC Player of the Year in 2005. He has been described by Kevin Pietersen and Daryll Cullinan as the greatest cricketer to play the game, and along with Wally Hammond and Sir Garry Sobers is one of the few Test all-rounders whose Test batting average is over 50 and exceeds his Test bowling average by 20 or more. Kallis became the fourth player and first South African to score 13,000 Test runs on the opening day of the first Test against New Zealand on 2 January 2013. He was named one of the Wisden Cricketers of the Year in 2013. He retired from Test and first-class cricket after playing in the second test against India at Durban in December 2013; Kallis scored his 45th Test hundred in this match, making him one of the few batsmen to score a century in his final Test. He retired from all forms of international cricket on 30 July 2014. In December 2019, it was announced that Jacques Kallis would rejoin the South African national cricket team, The Proteas, as the team's batting consultant for the duration of the summer. In August 2020, he was inducted to the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame.

3. Gary Kirsten (1967 - )

With an HPI of 22.10, Gary Kirsten is the 3rd most famous South African Cricketer.  His biography has been translated into 15 different languages.

Gary Kirsten (born 23 November 1967) is a South African cricket coach and former cricketer. He has coached the Indian Cricket Team as well as the South African Cricket team. Kirsten was a member of the South Africa team that won the 1998 ICC KnockOut Trophy, the only ICC trophy the country has won till date. Kirsten played 101 Test matches and 185 One Day Internationals for South Africa between 1993 and 2004, mainly as an opening batsman. His half brother Peter also played provincial cricket for Western Province, and then later for the South Africa cricket team which included the highlight of the 1992 Cricket World Cup. Kirsten was the coach of the Indian cricket team from 2008 to 2011, going on to win the 2011 Cricket World Cup. He was appointed as the coach of the South African cricket team in June 2011, and he stepped down in August 2013.

4. Hashim Amla (1983 - )

With an HPI of 20.66, Hashim Amla is the 4th most famous South African Cricketer.  His biography has been translated into 22 different languages.

Hashim Mahomed Amla OIS (born 31 March 1983) is a South African former international cricketer who captained the national side in Tests and ODIs. Amla holds the record for being the fastest ever to score 3,000, 4,000, 6,000 and 7,000 ODI runs, and second fastest to reach 5,000 runs. He also became the fastest cricketer to reach 10 ODI centuries. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest batsmen to have played for South Africa, and one of the greatest opening batsmen of all time. He is a right-handed batsman and holds the record for the highest individual Test score of any South African batsman of 311 not out, scored against England at The Oval, London in July 2012. He became the fastest cricketer to score 15, 16, 17, 18 and 20 centuries in One Day International (ODI) Cricket, doing so in 86, 94, 98, 102 and 108 innings, respectively. He has scored ODI centuries against all Test playing countries and is only the fourth person to do so. He was named as one of the Wisden Cricketers of the Year in 2013. In 2017, he scored 2 centuries in the Indian Premier League, playing for Kings XI Punjab. On 3 June 2017, he became the fastest cricketer to reach 25 ODI centuries. On 19 January 2018, Amla broke Virat Kohli’s record for being the fastest cricketer to reach 27 centuries in ODI cricket. Amla has reached the milestone in 167 innings, surpassing Kohli's 169. He, along with Quinton de Kock, Faf du Plessis and AB de Villiers formed the batting core of the South African team for a long time, helping the team score runs consistently and at a high run rate. On 8 August 2019, Amla announced his retirement from international cricket. On 18 January 2023, Amla announced his retirement from all cricket.

5. Kevin Pietersen (1980 - )

With an HPI of 19.94, Kevin Pietersen is the 5th most famous South African Cricketer.  His biography has been translated into 17 different languages.

Kevin Peter Pietersen (born 27 June 1980) is a British-South African cricket commentator, conservationist, and former England international captain. He is a right-handed batsman and occasional off spin bowler who played in all three formats for England between 2005 and 2014, which included a brief tenure as captain. He won the Player of the Series award for his heroics in 2010 ICC World Twenty20 and for helping the England Cricket Team win their maiden ICC trophy. Pietersen was born to an Afrikaner father and English mother in South Africa. He made his first-class debut for Natal in 1997 and moved to England in 2000, after voicing his displeasure at what he said was the racial quota system in South African cricket. Being of English ancestry, Pietersen was eligible for the England team so long as he first served a four-year qualifying period in English county cricket. He was called up by England almost immediately after he completed four years with Nottinghamshire. He made his international debut in the One Day International (ODI) match against Zimbabwe in 2004 and his Test match debut in the 2005 Ashes series against Australia. Pietersen left Nottinghamshire for Hampshire in 2005, but the England team's subsequent reliance on him resulted in Pietersen making only a single first-class appearance for his new county between 2005 and 2010. In June 2010, Pietersen announced his wish to leave Hampshire; he joined Surrey on loan for the remainder of the season, then moved permanently in 2011. Pietersen was captain of the England Test and ODI teams from 4 August 2008 to 7 January 2009, but resigned after just three Tests and nine ODIs following a dispute with the England coach Peter Moores, who was sacked the same day. Pietersen's relationship with the ECB never fully recovered. This came to a head in 2012 when, after a disagreement over his schedule, Pietersen announced his retirement from all forms of international limited-overs cricket on 31 May. Although he later retracted his retirement, his relationship with both the ECB and his team-mates soured during the series against South Africa, and he was dropped for the final Test of that series. Pietersen last played for England in the 2013–14 Ashes and subsequent ODIs, after which he was informed that he was no longer being considered for international selection. He also played for the Melbourne Stars in the Big Bash League until the end of BBL|07 (seventh season), the Quetta Gladiators in the Pakistan Super League as well as the Hollywoodbets Dolphins in the CSA T20 Challenge. He was also signed by the Rising Pune Supergiants for the 2016 season of the Indian Premier League. Pietersen is one of the fastest batsman to reach 1,000 ODI runs and still holds the record for being the fastest player to cross 2,000 runs in One Day International cricket. He has the second-highest run total from his first 25 Tests, behind only Sir Don Bradman of Australia, and was the fastest player, in terms of days, to reach 4,000, 5,000 and 7,000 Test runs. He became only the third English batsman to top the ICC One Day International rankings, doing so in March 2007. In July 2008, after a century against South Africa, The Times called him "the most complete batsman in cricket" and in 2012 The Guardian called him "England's greatest modern batsman". On the occasion of England's 1000th Test in August 2018, he was named in the country's greatest Test XI by the ECB.

6. Dale Steyn (1983 - )

With an HPI of 17.29, Dale Steyn is the 6th most famous South African Cricketer.  Her biography has been translated into 16 different languages.

Dale Willem Steyn (; born 27 June 1983) is a South African former professional cricketer who played for the South African cricket team. He is regarded by many as the greatest bowler of the Modern Era. Steyn's late swing combined with sheer pace was one of the peculiar qualities which made him stand apart from other bowlers. Many cricketing legends has regarded his length deliveries unplayable when the ball swung. During the 2007–08 season, Steyn achieved a tally of 78 wickets at an average of 16.24, and was subsequently rewarded with the ICC 2008 Test Cricketer of the Year Award. He was named one of the Wisden Cricketers of the Year in 2013, and the Wisden Leading Cricketer in the World for the year 2013 in 2014's Wisden Cricketers' Almanack. In December 2015 he injured his shoulder in the Durban Test against England ; after this injury his career was a short lived one as it was followed by multiple injuries; these injuries were the reason why many cricketing greats didn't even consider post 2015 Steyn as "The Dale Steyn" which the batsmen feared to face. He was featured in Wisden Cricketers of the Decade at the end of 2019. He also was included in the ICC Test Team of the Decade at the end of 2020. Steyn dominated the number one spot in the ICC Test rankings at the peak of his career, for a record 263 weeks between 2008 and 2014. Sri Lankan Muttiah Muralitharan sits next on the list with 214 weeks. In terms of days, Steyn had spent 2,356 days at the top as of 6 October 2016. In October 2012, former South African test cricketer Allan Donald called the South African pace attack, which Steyn was part of, alongside Vernon Philander and Morne Morkel, the best South Africa had ever produced. In December 2018, during the first Test against Pakistan, Steyn became the leading wicket taker for South Africa in Test cricket, a distinction previously held by all-rounder and former-captain Shaun Pollock. On 5 August 2019, Steyn announced his retirement from Test cricket, to focus on limited-overs cricket. Steyn announced his retirement from all forms of cricket on 31 August 2021.

7. Quinton de Kock (1992 - )

With an HPI of 12.70, Quinton de Kock is the 7th most famous South African Cricketer.  His biography has been translated into 15 different languages.

Quinton de Kock (born 17 December 1992) is a South African cricketer and former captain of the Proteas in all three formats. He currently plays for South Africa in T20 International, Titans at the domestic level, and Lucknow Super Giants in the Indian Premier League. He was named the Cricketer of the Year at Cricket South Africa's 2017 Annual Awards. Considered as one of the best wicket keeper batsmen of his generation An opening batsman and wicket-keeper, de Kock made his domestic debut for the Highveld Lions during the 2012/2013 season. He quickly caught the national selectors' eye when he starred in a match-winning partnership with Neil McKenzie in the Champions League T20 against the Mumbai Indians in the Indian Premier League (IPL)..He also finished fourth on the first-class rankings, despite playing only six of the 10 matches that summer. De Kock made his international debut in the first match of South Africa's home Twenty20 International series against the touring New Zealanders during the 2012/13 season. He was asked to keep wickets in place of AB de Villiers, who asked to be rested. He has since played regularly for the team at both One Day International (ODI) and Twenty20 International (T20I) level. In February 2014, he also made his Test debut for South Africa, playing solely as a batsman. By his 20th ODI match, De Kock had already scored five centuries. He became the fourth player to score three successive one-day centuries and the second player to score four ODI centuries before his 21st birthday. In his 74th ODI, against Sri Lanka on 10 February 2017, he became the fastest player to complete 12 ODI hundreds, bettering Hashim Amla, who had achieved the landmark in 81 innings. Before joining the Titans in 2015, de Kock played domestic cricket for Gauteng and the Highveld Lions. He has also played in the Indian Premier League (IPL) for Sunrisers Hyderabad, Delhi Daredevils, Royal Challengers Bangalore, and Mumbai Indians. Although he opens the batting in One Day International and T20 cricket, he primarily bats in the middle order in Test cricket. In July 2020, he was named South Africa's Men's Cricketer of the Year at Cricket South Africa's annual awards ceremony. In December 2020, in the series against Sri Lanka, de Kock captained South Africa for the first time in Test cricket.