Zander de Bruyn

Zander de Bruyn

Personal information
Full name	Zander de Bruyn
Born	5 July 1975 Johannesburg, South Africa
Batting style	Right-hand batsman
Bowling style	Right-arm fast-medium
Role	Allrounder
International information
National side	South Africa
Test debut (cap 293)	20 November 2004 v India
Last Test	17 December 2004 v England
Domestic team information
Years	Team
1995–1997	Transvaal
1997–2002	Gauteng
2002–2006	Easterns
2005	Worcestershire
2004–2006	Titans
2006–2009	Warriors
2008–2010	Somerset
2009–2014	Highveld Lions (squad no. 58)
2011–2013	Surrey
Career statistics
Competition Test FC LA T20 Matches 3 242 242 125 Runs scored 155 14,259 6,085 2,187 Batting average 38.75 38.33 35.37 29.95 100s/50s 0/1 29/78 6/37 0/9 Top score 83 266* 122* 95* Balls bowled 216 20,051 5,465 1,147 Wickets 3 285 166 62 Bowling average 30.66 39.35 30.84 27.09 5 wickets in innings 0 4 1 0 10 wickets in match 0 0 n/a n/a Best bowling 2/32 7/67 5/44 4/18 Catches/stumpings 0/– 155/– 60/– 23/–
Source: CricketArchive, 26 April 2016

Zander de Bruyn (born 5 July 1975 in Johannesburg) is a former South African cricketer. He was a right-handed batsman and a right-arm medium-fast bowler. He played three Test matches for South Africa, and played domestic cricket for the Highveld Lions. He is a batting all-rounder whose elegance at the crease has drawn comparisons to former South Africa captain Hansie Cronje. His medium-pace bowling can take the pressure off the front-line bowlers, with his ability to restrict the run-rate and take partnership breaking wickets.

Career

De Bruyn began his career with Transvaal cricket team (later Gauteng cricket team). However, his career only really started to prosper when he joined Easterns in 2002. Having been out of a contract at Gauteng, and without an offer of a new one, he took a part-time job in a retail clothing firm^[1] Coach Ray Jennings offered him a place in the team on a pay-as-you-play basis, and de Bruyn returned to first-class cricket.^[1] In the 2003–04 SuperSport Series, after a missable first innings, de Bruyn top scored with 169^[2] to help Easterns claim the title for the first time.^[3]

de Bruyn celebrates scoring a century for Somerset in 2010

His first-class batting average prior to this was a meagre 29.61, while his batting average since is over 40.^[4] In 2003–04 he became only the second player in South African cricket, after Barry Richards, to score 1000 domestic first-class runs in a season, in either the SuperSport Series or the Currie Cup.^[5]

De Bruyn's Test debut came against India in November 2004.^[6] He played in both Tests in the South Africans tour of India,^[7] scoring his career best Test score of 83 in the first innings of the first Test. He kept his place in the squad for the home series against England, playing in the first Test; but was subsequently dropped for the return of Jacques Kallis.^[8]

In 2005, he joined Worcestershire as a Kolpak player. During this time, he failed to impress; his first-class wickets costing almost a hundred runs each,^[9] and only a late season century against Somerset^[10] rescuing his batting average. He was part of the Titans squad that shared the 2005–06 SuperSport Series. The following season, he moved to the Warriors, but was limited to only five first-class appearances. In 2007–08, he posted his best bowling figures of 7/67 against previous club Titans.^[11] In both 2006–07 and 2007–08, he was a losing finalist in the MTN Domestic Championship.^[12][13]

In April 2008 de Bruyn signed for Somerset as a Kolpak player.^[14] He remained with them for the 2009 season, leading the team in Twenty20 Cup runs. In June 2009, it was announced that de Bruyn had signed for the Lions.^[15] On 3 December 2010, it was announced that de Bruyn had signed a one year deal at Surrey as a Kolpak player. After this season he could obtain a British passport. de Bruyn was released by Surrey at the end of the 2013 season.^[16] In April 2014 he announced his retirement from playing the game.^[17]

References

1. Manthorp, Neil (7 December 2004). "De Bruyn climbs from the scrapheap". The Guardian. Retrieved 2009-08-08.
2. "Easterns v Western Province in 2002/03". Cricket Archive. Retrieved 2009-08-08.
3. "Easterns clinch first crown". BBC Sport. 5 February 2002. Retrieved 2009-08-08.
4. "First-class Batting and Fielding in Each Season by Zander de Bruyn". Cricket Archive. Retrieved 2009-08-08.
5. "Player profile: Zander de Bruyn". Cricinfo. Retrieved 2016-01-31.
6. "Zander de Bruyn". Cricinfo. Retrieved 2009-08-08.
7. "Test Matches played by Zander de Bruyn". Cricket Archive. Retrieved 2009-08-08.
8. "South Africa recall Gibbs". Daily Telegraph. 22 December 2004. Retrieved 2009-08-08.
9. "First-class Bowling in Each Season by Zander de Bruyn". Cricket Archive. Retrieved 2009-08-08.
10. "Worcestershire v Somerset in 2005". Cricket Archive. Retrieved 2009-08-08.
11. "Warriors v Titans in 2007/08". Cricket Archive. Retrieved 2009-08-08.
12. "Cape Cobras v Warriors in 2006/07". Cricket Archive. Retrieved 2009-08-08.
13. "Titans v Warriors in 2007/08". Cricket Archive. Retrieved 2009-08-08.
14. "Somerset target de Bruyn". Cricinfo. 11 April 2008. Retrieved 2009-08-08.
15. "de Bruyn among three new sign-ups for Lions". Cricinfo. 29 June 2009. Retrieved 2009-08-08.
16. "Zander de Bruyn: Surrey release veteran all-rounder". BBC Sport. 20 September 2013. Retrieved 28 October 2013.
17. Daily Telegraph, page S19, "Sport in Brief", 9 April 2014.

External links

• Player profile: Zander de Bruyn from ESPNcricinfo