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Gary Kirsten

Gary Kirsten
GaryKirsten.jpg
Personal information
Full name Gary Kirsten
Born (1967-11-23) 23 November 1967 (age 49)
Cape Town, Cape Province, South Africa
Nickname Gazza
Batting style Left-handed
Bowling style Right arm off break
Role Opening Batsman, Coach
Relations Paul Kirsten (brother)
Peter Kirsten (half-brother)
International information
National side
Test debut (cap 257) 26 December 1993 v Australia
Last Test 30 March 2004 v New Zealand
ODI debut (cap 28) 14 December 1993 v Australia
Last ODI 3 March 2003 v Sri Lanka
ODI shirt no. 1
Domestic team information
Years Team
1987–2004 Western Province
Career statistics
Competition Test ODI FC LA
Matches 101 185 221 294
Runs scored 7,289 6,798 16,670 9,586
Batting average 45.27 40.95 48.31 36.58
100s/50s 21/34 13/45 46/79 18/58
Top score 275 188* 275 188*
Balls bowled 349 30 1,727 138
Wickets 2 0 20 3
Bowling average 71.00 43 41.80 37.33
5 wickets in innings 1
10 wickets in match n/a 0 n/a
Best bowling 1/0 6/68 1/25
Catches/stumpings 83/– 61/1 171/– 97/1
Source: Cricinfo, 28 December 2009

Gary Kirsten (born 23 November 1967) is a former South African cricketer, and the World Cup winning coach of the Indian cricket team. He played 101 Test matches and 185 One Day Internationals for South Africa between 1993 and 2004, mainly as an opening batsman. His half brother Peter, also played provincial cricket for Western Province, and then later for the South Africa cricket team which included the highlight of the Cricket World Cup in 1992.

He was appointed as the coach of the South African cricket team in June 2011 and he stepped down in August 2013.

Kirsten made his Test debut against Australia in Melbourne in 1993. He retired from international cricket in 2004 after crafting a match-winning 76 in his final innings, against New Zealand. Against the same country he had made history by becoming the first-ever Protea to play in 100 Test matches.

Over the years, he gained a reputation as being a sturdy batsman in both Test cricket and One Day cricket. He could up the tempo of an innings if he needed to, but more often than not he simply waited for the bad ball, much like Steve Waugh and Justin Langer. He was also a reliable fielder. Kirsten held the South African records for most runs and centuries in a Test career, before both were surpassed by Jacques Kallis. He was the first Test batsman to make hundreds against each of the other 9 Test nations. He scored 275 runs against England as a result of batting for over 14 and a half hours as South Africa followed on at Kingsmead in Durban, it still stands as the second-longest innings (in terms of duration) in Test history. The high score was later surpassed by Graeme Smith when he made 277 against England in 2003. He still holds the record for highest innings by a South African in a One Day International; 188 not-out made against the United Arab Emirates during the 1996 World Cup, which is the tenth highest innings of all time in One Day International cricket, and the highest score in World Cup cricket history. This record stood until it was surpassed by Chris Gayle who scored 215 against Zimbabwe in 2015. Later, that record was surpassed by Martin Guptill who scored 237* against the West Indies in the quarter finals of that very World Cup.


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