South Africa-born cricketers who played for other countries: One of the best cricket-playing countries in the globe has historically been South Africa. World-class cricketers like AB de Villiers, Kagiso Rabada, Quinton de Kock, Jacques Kallis, Shaun Pollock and many others have come from the rainbow nation. However, there have been many players who tried their best to break into the South African cricket team.
Unfortunately, due to cut-throat competition in the domestic set-up of Cricket South Africa, several talented found it too hard to make the cut to the national side. Furthermore, if the competition aspect was not enough, there was also an issue of the quota system to which several players disagreed and showed their disappointment. Hence they decided to move to other countries to pursue their dream of playing international cricket and succeeded as well.
Here is the list of South Africa-born cricketers who represented other countries:
Ryan ten Doeschate (Netherlands)
One of the most well-known faces from Netherlands cricket, Ryan ten Doeschate is widely regarded to be the best batter from Associate nations. He played 33 ODIs, scoring 1541 runs at an average of 67 with 5 centuries. Interestingly, Ryan ten Doeschate was born in Port Elizabeth, South Africa.
However, he opted to play domestic cricket in England for Essex as he held EU citizenship. He also played in various T20 leagues, including the IPL, where he spent quite a few years at the Kolkata Knight Riders. He is currently the fielding coach of the KKR franchise.
Neil Wagner (New Zealand)
Neil Wagner is considered to be one of the top Test match bowlers in the world. In 63 Tests for New Zealand, Wagner has 258 wickets at an average of 27.50 and a best bowling of 7/39. He was born in Pretoria, the capital of South Africa in 1986 and was a twelfth man in two Test matches for South Africa.
Wagner knew that it would be difficult for him to get opportunities in the South African team due to the quota system. Therefore at 22, Wagner moved to New Zealand. Wagner formed a deadly bowling partnership with Trent Boult and Tim Southee after making his Test debut in 2012.
Colin Ackermann (Netherlands)
Colin Ackermann, who recently made a name for himself in the ICC World Cup 2023 match against Pakistan, was born in George, Cape Province, South Africa in 1991. He was the vice-captain of South Africa at the 2010 Under-19 Cricket World Cup. However, he preferred to play domestic cricket for Durham County due to a lack of opportunities at home.
Ackermann made his Netherlands debut in 2019. Since then, he has played 8 ODIs and 22 T20Is for the Dutch team. He was also the vice-captain of the Dutch side for the T20 World Cup 2021.
Devon Conway (New Zealand)
Devon Conway has made headlines ever since he debuted for New Zealand. He was born in 1991 in Johannesburg, Transvaal Province, South Africa, and tried his best to make a mark in South Africa’s domestic cricket. But failing to do so, he decided to move to New Zealand at the age of 26 to start afresh.
He sold his property and car in South Africa and on advice from friends like Mike Rippon, moved to New Zealand. After winning the best domestic player award twice in New Zealand, Conway finally made his New Zealand debut in 2021 and scored a double-ton in his first Test, at Lords. Most recently, he hammered 152* in his ODI World Cup debut against England in Ahmedabad.
Kevin Pietersen (England)
The most famous name to leave South Africa for better pastures for cricket is Kevin Pietersen. Born in 1980 in Pietermaritzburg, South Africa, Pietersen debuted for Natal in 1997 in domestic cricket. But he moved to England in 2000 citing disagreement with the quota system in South African cricket.
Regarded as a pioneer of aggressive cricket, Kevin Pietersen made his England debut in 2005 and played 104 Tests, 136 ODIs, and 37 T20Is. He hit a total of 34 international centuries and was part of England’s 2010 T20 World Cup-winning team. He retired from international cricket in 2014.
Glenn Phillips (New Zealand)
A livewire on the field, New Zealand’s Glenn Phillips was born in 1996, in East London, Eastern Cape region of South Africa. However, his family moved to New Zealand when he was 5 years old. Having made his New Zealand T20I debut in 2017, Phillips has so far played 1 Test, 19 ODIs, and 63 T20I matches, respectively.
Besides, by virtue of having an abundance of talent within him, the nimble-footed player can also keep wickets for his team if need be. Not just that, when it comes rolling over arms and chipping in with some handy bowling for New Zealand, Glenn Phillips can bowl off-spin. Moreover, he can also juggle through in the batting line IP and can play as per the needs of the Kiwi team. Besides, Phillips is renowned for being a gun fielder as well. Hence it will be interesting to see how Phillips will fare for New Zealand in the ongoing ODI World Cup 2023 in India.
Sir Andrew Strauss (England)
Sir Andrew Strauss was born in 1977 in Johannesburg, Transvaal Province, South Africa. His family moved to England when Strauss was six years old. He played county cricket for Middlesex and Somerset counties in England’s domestic cricket. Thereafter, he bagged the honour of playing for England and marked his debut in 2004.
Strauss played 100 Tests and 127 ODIs for the Three Lions, scoring 7037 and 4205 runs, respectively, with a total of 27 centuries to his name. Fascinatingly enough, during his illustrious career, Andrew Strauss also captained England in 50 Tests and 62 ODIs matches. As a result, for his utmost dedication and service to England Cricket, Strauss was knighted in 2019.
Jason Roy (England)
Jason Roy was born in Durban in 1990 and his family moved to England when he was 10 years old. He played domestic cricket for Surrey. Roy made his England debut in 2014 and played 5 Tests, 116 ODIs, and 64 T20Is.
Roy has made 12 ODI centuries so far and was part of England’s 2019 World Cup-winning team as well. The ravishing opener also held the record for the highest ODI score by an Englishman (180) until it was eclipsed by Ben Stokes, who made 182. Despite being capable of playing aggressively he failed to make the cut for the England squad for the ongoing ODI World Cup 2023.
Marnus Labuschagne (Australia)
Marnus Labuschagne was born in Klerksdorp, in South Africa’s North West province in 1994. His family moved to Australia when he was 10. He worked for Channel 9 as a hot-spot operator at the Gabba, in Brisbane. In a rather mind-boggling turn of events, Labuschagne made his Australia debut in Tests in 2018, after Steve Smith suffered an injury during the Ashes tour.
Since then the prolific batter has emulated the batting prowess of his best friend and has not looked back. Speaking of his impressive international cricket career for Australia, Marnus Labuschagne has played 43 Tests, scoring 3789 runs with 11 centuries, and played 39 ODIs, scoring 1295 runs with two centuries. He has also played one T20I match. Currently, Labuschagne is a vital member of the 2023 World Cup Australia squad.
Roelof van der Merwe (Netherlands)
Roelof van der Merwe is a double international, as he played international cricket for both South Africa and the Netherlands. He was born in 1984 in Johannesburg, Transvaal Province, South Africa. He also holds Netherlands citizenship by descent through his mother.
Van der Merwe made his South Africa debut in 2009, and played 13 ODIs and 13 T20Is, taking a total of 31 wickets. In 2015, he moved to the Netherlands and has played 39 T20Is, taking 42 wickets and 5 ODIs, taking 4 wickets for them. By virtue of his dual citizenship, the all-rounder has been able to play for the Netherlands in the 2021 T20 World Cup and 2022 T20 World Cup. His journey still continues as the spinner is currently playing the Dutch side in the ongoing ODI World Cup in India.