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Greatest SA born player to play for another country?

Best player


  • Total voters
    59

Howe_zat

Audio File
D'Oliveira, Robin Smith and Allan Lamb worth a mention. Trott too.

tbh you could probably raise an entire XI from SA-born guys who went on to play for England.
The successful ones all seem to be batters for what I can remember - you'd have to cobble together a bowling attack out of Tom (but not Sam) Curran, Brydon Carse, and Tony Grieg supplying some offies.
 

Fuller Pilch

Hall of Fame Member
The successful ones all seem to be batters for what I can remember - you'd have to cobble together a bowling attack out of Tom (but not Sam) Curran, Brydon Carse, and Tony Grieg supplying some offies.
Get Greig to bowl medium pace. Basil D could be the spinner and KP could turn his arm over.
 

wpdavid

Hall of Fame Member
The successful ones all seem to be batters for what I can remember - you'd have to cobble together a bowling attack out of Tom (but not Sam) Curran, Brydon Carse, and Tony Grieg supplying some offies.
Yeah, I wondered about that. Shame that Sam was born over here, although he's hardly a top level test bowler anyway. Tony Greig's younger brother Ian might even get a game for this XI.

EDIT
Dernbach and Meaker if we extend this to ODIs, and they're not exactly worldies.
Here's the full list:
Basil D’Oliviera, Tony Greig, Ian Greig, Allan Lamb, Chris Smith, Robin Smith, Andrew Strauss, Kevin Pietersen, Matt Prior, Jonathan Trott, Craig Kieswetter, Jade Dernbach, Stuart Meaker, Nick Compton, Michael Lumb, Jason Roy, Keaton Jennings, Tom Curran, Brydon Carse
 

Howe_zat

Audio File
Of the list in the OP, Flower enjoys the position of being his adopted nation's best ever player, though you could argue several others would have done if they'd not gone very far north.

Flower, Pietersen, Grieg, and now Conway are the ones who would comfortably make any side in the world at their peak. There's the shortlist I think.
 

Ali TT

International Vice-Captain
How many South African born players have won a world cup...
KP, Lumb, Kieswetter, Roy, Tom Curran, Conway, Wagner, Watling?
 

Migara

International Coach
Does John Traicos have a place? born in Egypt and called as home before playing for ZIM.
 

ImpatientLime

International Regular
think pietersen is quite a lot more proven than flower tbh. obviously not flowers fault he didn't get to play as much as he could have.

but yeah, pietersen, greig and flower quite a bit clear of the rest.
 

BazBall21

International Captain
think pietersen is quite a lot more proven than flower tbh. obviously not flowers fault he didn't get to play as much as he could have.

but yeah, pietersen, greig and flower quite a bit clear of the rest.
Yeah Flower is overrated on here for that reason. Think I’d have him over KP still though.
 

wpdavid

Hall of Fame Member
Neal Radford too, born in Northern Rhodesia, grew up in SA, and played a few games for England.
I thought about him until I read that he averaged well over 80 with the ball in the tests that he played for England, so quickly forgot about him.
 

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