South African cricketer
Makhaya Ntini
OIS
(born 6 July 1977) is a South African former professional
cricketer
, who played all forms of the game. He was the first
black
player to play for the
South African national cricket team
.
[1]
Ntini was a member of the South Africa team that won the
1998 ICC KnockOut Trophy
, the only ICC trophy the country has won to date.
He reached second place in the
ICC Test match bowling ratings
and was the third South African cricketer to take 300
Test cricket
wickets, after
Shaun Pollock
and
Allan Donald
. In December 2017, his son
Thando Ntini
was named in
South Africa's squad
for the
2018 Under-19 Cricket World Cup
.
[2]
He played his last match against
India
in 2011.
Early recognition
[
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]
Ntini was born in Mdingi, a village in the Eastern Cape province, which is near
King William's Town
.
[3]
He was discovered by a
Border
Cricket Board development officer, who was setting up a mini-cricket programme. Although Ntini was both too old and too big to participate in the programme the officer, Raymond Booi, noticed the bared-footed cowherd's enthusiasm and talent for bowling. He lent the 15-year-old Ntini a pair of
plimsolls
and arranged for him to participate in a net session in King William's Town. Ntini impressed Booi, who contacted Greg Hayes, the head of the development programme. The pair placed Ntini in a junior cricket festival in
Queenstown
and Hayes purchased Ntini his first pair of boots for the festival, but later had to give the young bowler instructions not to wear them indoor or when herding cattle.
[4]
Two years later, he was selected to tour
England
with the
South Africa Under-19 squad
and played all five of the youth internationals. England dominated both
One Day Internationals
(ODIs) during the tour, with the South Africans only managing to take one
wicket
across the two matches, which fell to
Pierre Joubert
.
[5]
In the Test series, which England won 2?0, Ntini claimed nine wickets, the second-most by a South African bowler.
[6]
His bowling was
expensive
, coming at a rate of 4.53 runs per over: more than any other South African with the exception of
Mark Boucher
, who is best known as a
wicket-keeper
.
[6]
[7]
Domestic career
[
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]
After two matches for Border against the touring
Kenyans
,
[8]
Ntini made his
First-class cricket
debut in November 1995, facing an
England XI
.
[9]
He claimed two wickets in England's only
innings
as Border were beaten comprehensively.
[10]
In his debut season, Ntini claimed 17 wickets at an
average
of 37.05 in First-class competitions.
[11]
His best performance in an innings came against
Free State
, when he claimed three wickets for 49 runs (3/49) during his 17 overs.
[12]
He again toured with the national Under-19s in March and April 1996, touring
India
, where he played three youth Tests and one of the three ODIs. After claiming five wickets in the first Test
[13]
and none in the second,
[14]
Ntini displayed his talent in the third match, taking 6/53 in the first innings and 3/48 in the second innings.
[15]
International career
[
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]
Ntini returned to the South African side for a Sharjah tournament in 2000. His improvement was clear as he bowled with greater control.
In 2003, he became the first South African to take 10 wickets at
Lord's
. His best performance,
[
citation needed
]
however, came when Ntini took 13 wickets for 132 runs against the
West Indies
in the
Port of Spain
on 12 April 2005. This remains the most wickets taken by a South African cricketer in a Test match. On 3 March 2006, Ntini also achieved the best bowling figures by a South African in an ODI, demolishing
Australia
with 6 wickets for 22 runs. A popular figure in South African sport, Ntini was voted their favourite sportsman in a research poll conducted by the
South African Press Association
.
[16]
For his performances in 2006 and 2007,
[17]
he was named in the World Test XI by ICC. He was also named in the World Test XI by ESPNcricinfo.
[18]
Ntini went on to establish himself as
South Africa
's premier fast bowler and one of the leading fast bowlers in the world. In February 2009, he was ranked as the world's fifth-best Test bowler behind
Muttiah Muralitharan
,
Dale Steyn
,
Stuart Clark
and
Mitchell Johnson
, but had dropped to being 25th-best ODI bowler, according to the
ICC
rankings.
[19]
On 20 January 2007, Ntini dislodged
Mohammad Sami
to take his 300th Test
wicket
in his 74th Test. On 1 August 2008, he removed England opener
Alastair Cook
to claim his 350th Test wicket in his 90th Test.
Ntini played his 100th Test on 17 December 2009, becoming the only black South African cricketer to reach that mark. Sponsors
Castle Lager
promised every fan in attendance a free beer in celebration on the day he took his first wicket and he duly obliged on the second day when he bowled
Andrew Strauss
of England. However, after already having lost his place in the ODI side, he was dropped from the Test side after poor performances against England.
Ntini retired from all forms of international cricket in a
T20I
against India
[20]
on 9 January 2011.
[21]
To date, Ntini is one of only three players to have played more than 100 Test matches without scoring a 50.
[22]
Courtney Walsh
and
Nathan Lyon
are the others.
During his career, Ntini took 22 five-wicket hauls. As of 2020, he ranks joint seventeenth among all-time combined five-wicket haul takers (joint with
Allan Donald
,
Malcolm Marshall
and
Daniel Vettori
), and joint second in the equivalent list for South Africa, alongside
Donald
and behind
Dale Steyn
.
[23]
Controversies
[
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]
Ntini's career looked like coming to an early end in 1999 when he was charged and then convicted of rape, although he was finally
acquitted
.
[24]
[25]
The case caused controversy in South Africa, with his conviction generating negative publicity in view of his status as the first black South African Test cricketer. Ntini maintained his innocence, was acquitted on appeal and rebuilt his international cricket career.
[26]
Ntini thanked
Cricket South Africa
for sticking by him.
[21]
On 17 July 2020, while on
SABC 2
's
Morning Live
, Ntini detailed the alleged
racism
he experienced throughout his career. He claimed other players would not sit with him during meals and said he "was forever lonely" in the Proteas team. Ntini further stated that he used to run to the stadium and back to hotels to avoid being lonely on the team bus. Ntini's comments came shortly after fellow South African cricketer
Lungi Ngidi
called for the national team to show support towards the
Black Lives Matter
movement.
[27]
Coaching career
[
edit
]
In January 2016, Ntini was appointed as the assistant coach of the
Zimbabwean national cricket team
with a two-year contract.
[28]
Following the sacking of the previous coach
Dav Whatmore
, Ntini was appointed as interim head coach for
the home series against India in 2016
.
[29]
He resigned from the role as coach in January 2018,
[30]
although Ntini was reported to have claimed that he was asked to step down by the board on the basis of alleged complaints from the players over his coaching methods.
[31]
References
[
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]
External links
[
edit
]
Makhaya Ntini
at
ESPNcricinfo