In South Africa, Cricket is one of the most famous sports. Cricket was first introduced to South Africa by the British in the early 19th century and was firmly established in the 1880s. Cricket is a South African-administered, professional and amateur sport with a high standard of domestic cricket, which runs from October to March each year. South Africa is one of the leading cricketing nations in the world and one of the 12 countries approved by the International Cricket Council to play Test cricket. South Africa was become the 1st team to the top of ICC ranking in all three formats in 2012. History of South Africa Cricket..

Domestic Cricket

The first club to be formally established was in 1843 in Port Elizabeth, whose land is still in use as St. George’s Park. In 1876, Port Elizabeth introduced the ‘Champions Beat’, a competition between the cities of the Cape. Initially, domestic cricket started in Cape Town, Graham Town, King William Town, and Port Elizabeth, South Africa. Be it the heartbeat of the ICC World Cup in 1992 or 2015, South African fans have always been with the team in its ups and downs. The overwhelming support of the fans made this country one of the leading powers in the world of cricket.

Cricket South Africa oversees all competitions at the domestic level. The 15 domestic teams play four-day and limited-overs cricket in two divisions. CSA introduces the Mzansi Cricket League in 2018 – a new domestic T20 tournament featuring six city-based franchise teams.

1st Cricket match

The first official cricket match in South African cricket was played on 5 January 1808 between two British service teams stationed in South Africa after the occupation of South Africa by British forces. In 1843, the oldest cricket club in South Africa, Port Elizabeth Cricket Club, was established. The first championship was held in Port Elizabeth in 1876 between four clubs for the ‘Champions Beat’.

South Africa became 3rd test cricket team after England and Australia in 1889. In the same year, first-class cricket laid its foundation in the country. The Curie Cup (originally known as the Kimberley Cup) was establishe as a national championship. In 1907, it was Abe Bailey, president of the South African Cricket Association, who organized an ‘Imperial Cricket Conference’ (now called the International Cricket Council – ICC) to regulate the MCC. Wrote a letter to make. And the overall governance of cricket around the world.

History of Test Cricket

South Africa’s introduction to Test cricket began with a two-match Test series at home against England. South Africa lost both Tests by a large margin. In the first Test, they piled up 84 in the first innings and 129 in the second. England won the Test by 8 wickets. Left-arm spinner Albert Rose 19 became the first South African to take five wickets for South Africa.
It was the beginning of 1906 when South Africa enjoyed its first Test victory. In the first Test of the five-match series, England gave the hosts a target of 287 runs to win. At one point in the second innings, South Africa was reduce to 237 for the loss of 9 wickets. All-rounder Dave Nurse, who looked like another loser, won the match by one wicket with an unbeaten 48-run partnership with captain Percy Sherwell.

The ICC has banned South Africa since 1971 because the government did not allow non-white players to be part of the national team. The ban lasted for 20 years. During this period, teams from England, Australia, West Indies, and Sri Lanka played separate unofficial Test matches against South Africa. After the overthrow of the colorful government, the ICC re-introduced South Africa into the world of cricket

First Test match

South Africa played its first Test in the West Indies after a gap of 20 years in international cricket. Andrew Hudson scored 163 on his debut.

South Africa’s return to Test cricket proved to be the biggest comeback in the history of cricket. They beat India at home in their second Test series. He won seven of the 10 Test series and drew the remaining three. He repeated this dominance between 1998 and 2003. During this time they have won 14 Test series, lost 2, and drawn 1. From 2006 to 2018, he played 43 Test series – 29 wins, 6 losses and 8 draws. He introduced players like Graeme Smith, Jack Kallis, Hashim Amla, Dale Steyn, and AB de Villiers to the world.

ODI History

South Africa played their first ODI in 1991. They lost their first ODI by 3 wickets. Batting first, South Africa gave the hosts a target of 178 which they achieved in 40 overs. Alan Donald became the first South African and the third overall player to take 5 wickets in his debut. In the third ODI of the same series, South Africa recorded its first ODI victory. Chasing India’s target of 288, he won by 8 wickets and 20 balls. Captain Kepler Wessels was name Man of the Series for scoring 211 runs at an average of 70.33, including three half-centuries. History of South Africa Cricket.

South Africa Played 1st ICC World Cup

South Africa played its first ICC World Cup in 1992. To everyone’s surprise, they reached the semi-finals of the World Cup.
South Africa won its first ODI series in India in 1992, beating India 5-2. Between 1995 and 1997, he won five of the seven ODI series, including the Mandela Trophy and the Pepsi Sharjah Cup. In 1998, South Africa won the inaugural ICC Champions Trophy (then known as the ICC Knockout Trophy) in Bangladesh. In the final, South Africa chased down the 246-run target set by the West Indies with 4 wickets and 18 balls remaining. Jack Kallis hit five fours off the ball and scored 37 off the bat to win the Man of the Match and Man of the Series award.
He suffered another heartbreak in the semi-finals of the 1999 ICC World Cup. A run was require on the last 4 balls of the game against Australia, Alan Donald ran out and the match ended in a tie. Australia reached the final based on their ranking in the Super 6 table.
In 2000, South African cricket became embroiled in a match-fixing scandal that led to the banning of their captain Hansie Cronje for life. However, he returned after winning all six ODI series during the controversy. Since then, he has become a major force in ODI cricket until current politics and laws have forced players to either retire early or leave the country to play elsewhere. History of South Africa Cricket.

T20 Cricket History

South Africa played the 1st T20I against New Zealand in Johannesburg on 21 October 2005. Batting first, they set a target of 134 runs with the help of skipper Graeme Smith’s 61 runs off 43 deliveries. South Africa lost the match by 5 wickets. They won their first-ever T20I against Australia at the same location. Batting first, South Africa registered 201 runs on board. Skipper Graeme Smith once again scored 89 runs off 58 balls with Herschelle Gibbs scoring 56 off 34 deliveries before getting out. Australia came too close to the target with Brett Lee hitting 43 runs in 21 balls but couldn’t succeed. South Africa won the match by 2 runs.

South Africa hosted ICC T20 World Cup in 2007. In the first game of the tournament, South Africa played against the West Indies. Batting first, the West Indies set a target of 206. Chris Gayle scored the first century of the World Twenty20. South Africa bounced back with solid batting efforts from Herschelle Gibbs (90* off 55) and Justin Kemp (46* off 22) to win the game by 8 wickets. The Proteas were eventually thrown out of the tournament at the Super 8 stage base on their lower net run rate. In 2009, they reached the semi-finals of the tournament but lost to Pakistan.

South Africa reached the semifinal of the 2014 ICC World Twenty20 again. But this time they lost to India. History of South Africa Cricket.

After a complete revamp of the CSA, the new board started an intercity T20 competition – Mzansi Super League (MSL) in 2018 to improve the status of the T20 format in the country. For more details click here