List of South Africa national cricket captains

South Africa played its first Test match in cricket in 1889 against England at Port Elizabeth, becoming the third Test nation after England and Australia. This is a list of the men and women who have been the official South African captains in Tests.

South Africa was a founder member of the International Cricket Council in 1909. However, the South African team did not play official Test cricket from 1970 to 1991, having been suspended from membership the ICC as a result of controversy over apartheid (most particularly the reaction to the Basil d'Oliveira affair). There were a number of rebel tours to South Africa in the intervening period, but none of the matches are recognised as official Test matches and they are not include here. South Africa rejoined the ICC, and resumed playing official Test cricket, in 1991.

Men's Cricket

Test match captains

This is a list of cricketers who have captained the South African cricket team for at least one Test match. The table of results is complete to the home Test against West Indies in January 2015. Where a player has a dagger (†) next to a Test match series in which he captained at least one Test, that denotes that player deputised for the appointed captain or were appointed by the home authority for a minor proportion in a series. The dagger classification follows that adopted by Wisden Cricketers' Almanack.

South African Test match captains
Number	Name	Year	Report	Opposition	Location	Played	Won	Lost	Drawn
1	Owen Dunell	1888–89	Report	England	South Africa	1	0	1	0
2	William Milton	1888–89	Report	England	South Africa	1	0	1	0
		1891–92	Report	England	South Africa	1	0	1	0
		Total				2	0	2	0
3	Ernest Halliwell	1895–96	Report	England	South Africa	2	0	2	0
		1902–03	Report	Australia	South Africa	1	0	1	0
		Total				3	0	3	0
4	Alfred Richards	1895–96†	Report	England	South Africa	1	0	1	0
5	Murray Bisset	1898–99	Report	England	South Africa	2	0	2	0
6	Henry Taberer	1902–03	Report	Australia	South Africa	1	0	0	1
7	Biddy Anderson	1902–03	Report	Australia	South Africa	1	0	1	0
8	Percy Sherwell	1905–06	Report	England	South Africa	5	4	1	0
		1907	Report	England	England	3	0	1	2
		1910–11	Report	Australia	Australia	5	1	4	0
		Total				13	5	6	2
9	Tip Snooke	1909–10	Report	England	South Africa	5	3	2	0
10	Frank Mitchell	1912	Report	Australia	England	2	0	2	0
		1912	Report	England	England	1	0	1	0
		Total				3	0	3	0
11	Louis Tancred	1912	Report	England	England	2	0	2	0
		1912	Report	Australia	England	1	0	0	1
		Total				3	0	2	1
12	Herbie Taylor	1913–14	Report	England	South Africa	5	0	4	1
		1921–22		Australia	South Africa	3	0	1	2
		1922–23		England	South Africa	5	1	2	2
		1924		England	England	5	0	3	2
		Total				18	1	10	7
13	Nummy Deane	1927–28		England	South Africa	5	2	2	1
		1929		England	England	5	0	2	3
		1930–31		England	South Africa	2	0	2	0
		Total				12	2	4	6
14	Buster Nupen	1930–31†		England	South Africa	1	1	0	0
15	Jock Cameron	1930–31		England	South Africa	2	0	0	2
		1931–32		Australia	Australia	5	0	5	0
		1931–32		New Zealand	New Zealand	2	2	0	0
		Total				9	2	5	2
16	Herbie Wade	1935		England	England	5	1	0	4
		1935–36		Australia	South Africa	5	0	4	1
		Total				10	1	4	5
17	Alan Melville	1938–39		England	South Africa	5	0	1	4
		1947		England	England	5	0	3	2
		Total				10	0	4	6
18	Dudley Nourse	1948–49		England	South Africa	5	0	2	3
		1949–50		Australia	South Africa	5	0	4	1
		1951		England	England	5	1	3	1
		Total				15	1	9	5
19	Jack Cheetham	1952–53		Australia	Australia	5	2	2	1
		1952–53		New Zealand	New Zealand	2	1	0	1
		1953–54		New Zealand	South Africa	5	4	0	1
		1955		England	England	3	0	3	0
		Total				15	7	5	'3
20	Jackie McGlew	1955†		England	England	2	2	0	0
		1956–57†		England	South Africa	1	0	1	0
		1957–58†		Australia	South Africa	1	0	0	1
		1960		England	England	5	0	3	2
		1961–62		New Zealand	South Africa	5	2	2	1
		Total				14	4	6	4
21	Clive van Ryneveld	1956–57		England	South Africa	4	2	1	1
		1957–58		Australia	South Africa	4	0	3	1
		Total				8	2	4	2
22	Trevor Goddard	1963–64		Australia	Australia	5	1	1	3
		1963–64		New Zealand	New Zealand	3	0	0	3
		1964–65		England	South Africa	5	0	1	4
		Total				13	1	2	10
23	Peter van der Merwe	1965		England	England	3	1	0	2
		1966–67		Australia	South Africa	5	3	1	1
		Total				8	4	1	3
24	Ali Bacher	1969–70		Australia	South Africa	4	4	0	0
25	Kepler Wessels	1991–92		West Indies	West Indies	1	0	1	0
		1992–93		India	South Africa	4	1	0	3
		1993–94		Sri Lanka	Sri Lanka	3	1	0	2
		1993–94		Australia	Australia	2	1	0	1
		1993–94		Australia	South Africa	3	1	1	1
		1994		England	England	3	1	1	1
		Total				16	5	3	8
26	Hansie Cronje	1993–94†		Australia	Australia	1	0	1	0
		1994–95		New Zealand	South Africa	3	2	1	0
		1994–95		Pakistan	South Africa	1	1	0	0
		1994–95		New Zealand	New Zealand	1	1	0	0
		1995–96		Zimbabwe	Zimbabwe	1	1	0	0
		1995–96		England	South Africa	5	1	0	4
		1996–97		India	India	3	1	2	0
		1996–97		India	South Africa	3	2	0	1
		1996–97		Australia	South Africa	3	1	2	0
		1997–98		Pakistan	Pakistan	3	1	0	2
		1997–98		Australia	Australia	3	0	1	2
		1997–98		Pakistan	South Africa	2	1	1	0
		1997–98		Sri Lanka	Sri Lanka	2	1	0	1
		1998		England	England	5	1	2	2
		1998–99		West Indies	South Africa	5	5	0	0
		1998–99		New Zealand	New Zealand	3	1	0	2
		1999–2000		Zimbabwe	South Africa	1	1	0	0
		1999–2000		Zimbabwe	Zimbabwe	1	1	0	0
		1999–2000		England	South Africa	5	2	1	2
		1999–2000		India	India	2	2	0	0
		Total				53	26	11	16
27	Gary Kirsten	1997-98†		Pakistan	South Africa	1	0	0	1
28	Shaun Pollock	2000–01		Sri Lanka	Sri Lanka	3	1	1	1
		2000–01		New Zealand	South Africa	3	2	0	1
		2000–01		Sri Lanka	South Africa	3	2	0	1
		2000–01		West Indies	West Indies	5	2	1	2
		2001–02		Zimbabwe	Zimbabwe	2	1	0	1
		2001–02		India	South Africa	2	1	0	1
		2001–02		Australia	Australia	3	0	3	0
		2002–03		Bangladesh	South Africa	1	1	0	0
		2002–03		Sri Lanka	South Africa	2	2	0	0
		2002–03		Pakistan	South Africa	2	2	0	0
		Total				26	14	5	7
29	Mark Boucher	2001–02		Australia	South Africa	3	1	2	0
		2002–03†		Bangladesh	South Africa	1	1	0	0
		Total				4	2	2	0
30	Graeme Smith	2003		Bangladesh	Bangladesh	2	2	0	0
		2003		England	England	5	2	2	1
		2003–04		Pakistan	Pakistan	2	0	1	1
		2003–04		West Indies	South Africa	4	3	0	1
		2003–04		New Zealand	New Zealand	3	1	1	1
		2004		Sri Lanka	Sri Lanka	2	0	1	1
		2004–05		India	India	2	0	1	1
		2004–05		England	South Africa	5	1	2	2
		2004–05		Zimbabwe	South Africa	2	2	0	0
		2004–05		West Indies	West Indies	4	2	0	2
		2005–06	Report	Australia	Australia	3	0	2	1
		2005–06	Report	Australia	South Africa	2	0	2	0
		2005–06	Report	New Zealand	South Africa	3	2	0	1
		2006–07		India	South Africa	3	2	1	0
		2006–07		Pakistan	South Africa	3	2	1	0
		2007–08		Pakistan	Pakistan	2	1	0	1
		2007–08		New Zealand	South Africa	2	2	0	0
		2007–08		West Indies	South Africa	3	2	1	0
		2007–08		Bangladesh	Bangladesh	2	2	0	0
		2007–08		India	India	3	1	1	1
		2008		England	England	4	2	1	1
		2008–09		Bangladesh	South Africa	1	1	0	0
		2008–09		Australia	Australia	3	2	1	0
		2008–09	Report	Australia	South Africa	3	1	2	0
		2009–10		England	South Africa	4	1	1	2
		2009–10	.	India	India	2	1	1	0
		2010	.	West Indies	West Indies	3	2	0	1
		2010	.	Pakistan	UAE	2	0	0	2
		2010	.	India	South Africa	3	1	1	1
		2011/12	.	Australia	South Africa	2	1	1	0
		2011/12	.	Sri Lanka	South Africa	3	2	0	1
		2012/13	Report	New Zealand	South Africa	2	2	0	0
		2012/13	Report	Pakistan	South Africa	3	3	0	0
		2012/13	.	England	England	3	2	0	1
		2012/13	.	Australia	South Africa	3	1	0	1
		2012/13	.	Pakistan	UAE	2	1	1	0
		2013/14	Report	Pakistan	UAE	2	1	1	0
		2013/14	Report	India	South Africa	2	1	0	1
		2013/14	Report	Australia	South Africa	3	1	2	0
		Total				108	53	25	27
31	Jacques Kallis	2005–06†	Report	Australia	South Africa	1	0	1	0
		2008–09†		Australia	South Africa	1	1	0	0
		Total				2	1	1	0
32	Ashwell Prince	2006	Report	Sri Lanka	Sri Lanka	2	0	2	0
33	Hashim Amla	2014	Report	Sri Lanka	Sri Lanka	2	1	-	1
		2014	Report	Zimbabwe	Zimbabwe	1	1	-	-
		2014/15	Report	West Indies	South Africa	3	2	-	1
		2015	Report	Bangladesh	Bangladesh	2	-	-	2
		2015/16		England	South Africa	2	-	1	1
		Total				14	4	?	?
34	AB de Villiers	2016		England	South Africa	-	-	-	-
Grand total						390	144	129	117

ODI captains

This is a complete list of every man who has captained South Africa in at least one One Day International. It is complete up to the ODI against West Indies in Centurion on 28 January 2015.

South African ODI captains
Number	Name	Years	Played	Won	Lost	Tied	No result	% won
1	Clive Rice	1991	3	1	2	0	0	33.33
2	Kepler Wessels	1992-1994	52	20	30	0	2	40.00
3	Hansie Cronje	1994–2000	138	99	35	1	3	73.70
4	Shaun Pollock	2000-2005	92	59	29	3	1	66.48
5	Graeme Smith	2003-2011	149	92	51	1	5	64.23
6	Mark Boucher†	2003	1	1	0	0	0	100.00
7	Nicky Boje†	2005	1	1	0	0	0	100.00
8	Jacques Kallis	2006-2010	13	6	6	0	1	50.00
9	Johan Botha	2008-2010	10	8	2	0	0	80.00
10	Hashim Amla	2011-2015	6	3	3	0	0	50.00
11	AB de Villiers	2012-present	60	34	22	1	3	60.52
12	Faf du Plessis	2013-2014	3	2	1	0	0	66.66
Grand total			528	326	181	6	15	64.13

Twenty20 International captains

This is a list of cricketers who have captained the South Africa cricket team for at least one Twenty20 International. It is complete up to the T20I against West Indies at Durban on 14 January 2015.

South Africa Twenty20 International captains
Number	Name	Period of captaincy	Played	Won	Lost	Tied	No result	% won
1	Graeme Smith	2005-2010	27	18	9	0	0	66.66
2	Shaun Pollock	2007	1	0	1	0	0	0.00
3	Johan Botha	2008-2012	11	8	3	0	0	72.72
4	Hashim Amla	2011	2	1	1	0	0	50.00
5	AB de Villiers	2012-2014	13	6	6	0	1	50.00
6	Francois du Plessis	2012-present	18	9	9	0	0	50.00
7	JP Duminy	2014	3	1	2	0	0	33.33
8	Justin Ontong	2015	1	1	0	0	0	100.00
Grand total			76	44	31	0	1	58.66

Youth cricket

Test match captains

This is a list of cricketers who have captained the South African U-19 cricket team for at least one under-19 Test match. The table of results is complete to the away second Test against England in August 2014. Where a player has a dagger (†) next to a Test match series in which he captained at least one Test, that denotes that player was captain for a minor proportion in a series.

South African Under-19 Test match captains
Number	Name	Year	Opposition	Location	Played	Won	Lost	Drawn
1	Neil McKenzie	1995	England	England	3	0	2	1
2	Douglas Gain	1996	India	India	3	1	1	1
3	Philip Hearle	1997	Pakistan	South Africa	3	0	2	1
4	Matthew Street	1997	England	South Africa	2	0	0	2
5	Thami Tsolekile	1999	Pakistan	Pakistan	3	0	1	2
6	Rivash Gobind	2001	New Zealand	New Zealand	3	0	2	1
7	Imraan Khan	2003	England	England	3	2	0	1
8	Wayne Parnell	2007/08	Bangladesh	South Africa	1	0	0	1
		2008	India	South Africa	1	0	0	1
		Total			2	0	0	2
9	Jonathan Vandiar	2008	India	South Africa	1	0	1	0
10	Diego Rosier	2013	England	South Africa	2	1	1	0
11	Sibonelo Makhanya	2014	England	England	2	0	0	2
Grand total					27	4	10	13

Youth One-day International captains

This is a list of cricketers who have captained the South African Under-19 cricket team for at least one Under-19 One Day International. The table of results is complete up to the away fifth Youth ODI against England on 22 August 2014.

South African Under-19 ODI captains
Number	Name	Year	Played	Won	Lost	No result
1	Neil McKenzie	1995	2	0	2	0
2	Douglas Gain	1996	3	0	3	0
3	Wade Wingfield	1997	1	1	0	0
4	Philip Hearle	1997	2	1	1	0
5	Matthew Street	1998	8	7	1	0
6	Thami Tsolekile	1999–2000	9	5	3	1
7	Johan Botha	2001	2	0	1	1
8	Rivash Gobind	2001	1	1	0	0
9	Hashim Amla	2002	8	5	3	0
10	Imraan Khan	2003	2	1	0	1
11	Divan van Wyk	2004	6	3	3	0
12	Dean Elgar	2005–2006	10	3	7	0
13	Jonathan Vandiar	2008–2009	6	3	3	0
14	Wayne Parnell	2008	8	4	4	0
15	Josh Richards	2009-2010	9	6	3	0
16	Keaton Jennings	2010-2011	16	13	2	1
17	Shaylen Pillay	2011	1	1	0	0
18	Quinton de Kock	2012	9	5	4	0
20	Prenelan Subrayen	2012	1	1	0	0
21	Chad Bowes	2012	6	5	1	0
22	Diego Rosier	2013	4	4	0	0
23	Yaseen Valli	2013	5	3	2	0
24	Aiden Markram	2013-2014	8	8	0	0
25	Sibonelo Makhanya	2014	4	0	4	0
26	Marques Ackerman	2014	1	0	1	0
Grand total			132	80	48	4

Women's cricket

Women's Test match captains

This is a list of cricketers who have captained the South African women's cricket team for at least one women's Test match. Where a player has a dagger (†) next to a Test match series in which she captained at least one Test, that denotes that player was captain for a minor proportion in a series.

South African women's Test captains
Number	Name	Season	Opposition	Location	Played	Won	Lost	Drawn	W%
1	Sheelagh Nefdt	1960–1961	England	South Africa	4	0	1	3	0.00
2	Maureen Payne	1972	New Zealand	South Africa	3	0	1	2	0.00
3	Cindy Eksteen	2002	India	South Africa	1	0	1	0	0.00
4	Alison Hodgkinson	2003	England	England	2	0	1	1	0.00
5	Cri-Zelda Brits	2007	Netherlands	Netherlands	1	1	0	0	100.00
6	Mignon du Preez	2014	India	India	1	0	1	0	0.00
Grand total					12	1	5	6	8.33

Women's One-Day International captains

This is a list of cricketers who have captained the South African women's cricket team for at least one women's one-day international.

South African women's ODI captains
Number	Name	Year	Played	Won	Lost	Tied	No result	W%
1	Kim Price	1997–2000	26	13	12	0	1	52.00
2	Linda Olivier	1999	3	0	3	0	0	0.00
3	Cindy Eksteen	1999–2002	6	2	3	0	1	40.00
4	Alison Hodgkinson	2003-2005	19	4	14	0	1	22.22
5	Cri-zelda Brits	2007-2011	23	16	6	0	1	72.72
6	Sunette Loubser	2009	7	3	3	1	0	50.00
7	Alicia Smith	2009	1	0	1	0	0	0.00
8	Mignon du Preez	2011-present	37	20	14	0	3	58.82
Grand total			122	58	56	1	7	50.43

Women's Twenty20 Internationals

This is a list of cricketers who have captained the South African women's cricket team for at least one Women's Twenty20 International.

South African women's ODI captains
Number	Name	Year	Played	Won	Lost	Tied	No result	W%
1	Cri-zelda Brits	2007-2010	12	3	9	0	0	25.00
2	Sunette Loubser	2009	5	0	5	0	0	0.00
3	Alicia Smith	2009	1	0	1	0	0	0.00
4	Mignon du Preez	2011-present	37	19	17	0	1	52.77
5	Dane van Niekerk	2014	1	1	0	0	0	100.00
Grand total			56	23	32	0	1	41.81

See also

• List of South African Test cricketers
• List of South African ODI cricketers

References

• Wisden Cricketers' Almanack
• Cricinfo StatsGuru
• CricketArchive