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 cricket.

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 by 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 are italicised below. 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. 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.

The table of results is complete up to the second Test against Australia in December 2022.

South African Test match captains^[1]
Number	Image	Name	Season	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	Report	Australia	South Africa	3	0	1	2
			1922–23	Report	England	South Africa	5	1	2	2
			1924	Report	England	England	5	0	3	2
			Total				18	1	10	7
13		Nummy Deane	1927–28	Report	England	South Africa	5	2	2	1
			1929	Report	England	England	5	0	2	3
			1930–31	Report	England	South Africa	2	0	0	2
			Total				12	2	4	6
14		Buster Nupen	1930–31†	Report	England	South Africa	1	1	0	0
15		Jock Cameron	1930–31	Report	England	South Africa	2	0	0	2
			1931–32	Report	Australia	Australia	5	0	5	0
			1931–32	Report	New Zealand	New Zealand	2	2	0	0
			Total				9	2	5	2
16		Herbie Wade	1935	Report	England	England	5	1	0	4
			1935–36	Report	Australia	South Africa	5	0	4	1
			Total				10	1	4	5
17		Alan Melville	1938–39	Report	England	South Africa	5	0	1	4
			1947	Report	England	England	5	0	3	2
			Total				10	0	4	6
18		Dudley Nourse	1948–49	Report	England	South Africa	5	0	2	3
			1949–50	Report	Australia	South Africa	5	0	4	1
			1951	Report	England	England	5	1	3	1
			Total				15	1	9	5
19		Jack Cheetham	1952–53	Report	Australia	Australia	5	2	2	1
			1952–53	Report	New Zealand	New Zealand	2	1	0	1
			1953–54	Report	New Zealand	South Africa	5	4	0	1
			1955	Report	England	England	3	0	3	0
			Total				15	7	5	3
20		Jackie McGlew	1955†	Report	England	England	2	2	0	0
			1956–57†	Report	England	South Africa	1	0	1	0
			1957–58†	Report	Australia	South Africa	1	0	0	1
			1960	Report	England	England	5	0	3	2
			1961–62	Report	New Zealand	South Africa	5	2	2	1
			Total				14	4	6	4
21		Clive van Ryneveld	1956–57	Report	England	South Africa	4	2	1	1
			1957–58	Report	Australia	South Africa	4	0	3	1
			Total				8	2	4	2
22		Trevor Goddard	1963–64	Report	Australia	Australia	5	1	1	3
			1963–64	Report	New Zealand	New Zealand	3	0	0	3
			1964–65	Report	England	South Africa	5	0	1	4
			Total				13	1	2	10
23		Peter van der Merwe	1965	Report	England	England	3	1	0	2
			1966–67	Report	Australia	South Africa	5	3	1	1
			Total				8	4	1	3
24		Ali Bacher	1969–70	Report	Australia	South Africa	4	4	0	0
-		Mike Procter	1981–82	Report	England	South Africa	3	1	0	2
-		Peter Kirsten	1982–83	Report	Sri Lanka	South Africa	2	2	0	0
			1982–83	Report	West Indies	South Africa	2	1	1	0
			1983–84	Report	West Indies	South Africa	2	1	0	1
			Total				6	4	1	1
-		Clive Rice	1983–84†	Report	West Indies	South Africa	2	0	2	0
			1985–86	Report	Australia	South Africa	3	1	0	2
			1986–87	Report	Australia	South Africa	4	1	0	3
			Total				9	2	2	5
-		Jimmy Cook	1989–90	Report	England	South Africa	1	1	0	0
25		Kepler Wessels	1991–92	Report	West Indies	West Indies	1	0	1	0
			1992–93	Report	India	South Africa	4	1	0	3
			1993–94	Report	Sri Lanka	Sri Lanka	3	1	0	2
			1993–94	Report	Australia	Australia	2	1	0	1
			1993–94	Report	Australia	South Africa	3	1	1	1
			1994	Report	England	England	3	1	1	1
			Total				16	5	3	8
26		Hansie Cronje	1993–94†	Report	Australia	Australia	1	0	1	0
			1994–95	Report	New Zealand	South Africa	3	2	1	0
			1994–95	Report	Pakistan	South Africa	1	1	0	0
			1994–95	Report	New Zealand	New Zealand	1	1	0	0
			1995–96	Report	Zimbabwe	Zimbabwe	1	1	0	0
			1995–96	Report	England	South Africa	5	1	0	4
			1996–97	Report	India	India	3	1	2	0
			1996–97	Report	India	South Africa	3	2	0	1
			1996–97	Report	Australia	South Africa	3	1	2	0
			1997–98	Report	Pakistan	Pakistan	3	1	0	2
			1997–98	Report	Australia	Australia	3	0	1	2
			1997–98	Report	Pakistan	South Africa	2	1	1	0
			1997–98	Report	Sri Lanka	South Africa	2	2	0	0
			1998	Report	England	England	5	1	2	2
			1998–99	Report	West Indies	South Africa	5	5	0	0
			1998–99	Report	New Zealand	New Zealand	3	1	0	2
			1999–2000	Report	Zimbabwe	South Africa	1	1	0	0
			1999–2000	Report	Zimbabwe	Zimbabwe	1	1	0	0
			1999–2000	Report	England	South Africa	5	2	1	2
			1999–2000	Report	India	India	2	2	0	0
			Total				53	27	11	15
27		Gary Kirsten	1997–98†	Report	Pakistan	South Africa	1	0	0	1
28		Shaun Pollock	2000–01	Report	Sri Lanka	Sri Lanka	3	1	1	1
			2000–01	Report	New Zealand	South Africa	3	2	0	1
			2000–01	Report	Sri Lanka	South Africa	3	2	0	1
			2000–01	Report	West Indies	West Indies	5	2	1	2
			2001–02	Report	Zimbabwe	Zimbabwe	2	1	0	1
			2001–02	Report	India	South Africa	2	1	0	1
			2001–02	Report	Australia	Australia	3	0	3	0
			2002–03	Report	Bangladesh	South Africa	1	1	0	0
			2002–03	Report	Sri Lanka	South Africa	2	2	0	0
			2002–03	Report	Pakistan	South Africa	2	2	0	0
			Total				26	14	5	7
29		Mark Boucher	2001–02	Report	Australia	South Africa	3	1	2	0
			2002–03†	Report	Bangladesh	South Africa	1	1	0	0
			Total				4	2	2	0
30		Graeme Smith	2003	Report	Bangladesh	Bangladesh	2	2	0	0
			2003	Report	England	England	5	2	2	1
			2003–04	Report	Pakistan	Pakistan	2	0	1	1
			2003–04	Report	West Indies	South Africa	4	3	0	1
			2003–04	Report	New Zealand	New Zealand	3	1	1	1
			2004	Report	Sri Lanka	Sri Lanka	2	0	1	1
			2004–05	Report	India	India	2	0	1	1
			2004–05	Report	England	South Africa	5	1	2	2
			2004–05	Report	Zimbabwe	South Africa	2	2	0	0
			2005	Report	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	Report	India	South Africa	3	2	1	0
			2006–07	Report	Pakistan	South Africa	3	2	1	0
			2007–08	Report	Pakistan	Pakistan	2	1	0	1
			2007–08	Report	New Zealand	South Africa	2	2	0	0
			2007–08	Report	West Indies	South Africa	3	2	1	0
			2007–08	Report	Bangladesh	Bangladesh	2	2	0	0
			2007–08	Report	India	India	3	1	1	1
			2008	Report	England	England	4	2	1	1
			2008–09	Report	Bangladesh	South Africa	2	2	0	0
			2008–09	Report	Australia	Australia	3	2	1	0
			2008–09	Report	Australia	South Africa	2	0	2	0
			2009–10	Report	England	South Africa	4	1	1	2
			2009–10	Report	India	India	2	1	1	0
			2010	Report	West Indies	West Indies	3	2	0	1
			2010–11	Report	Pakistan	United Arab Emirates	2	0	0	2
			2010–11	Report	India	South Africa	3	1	1	1
			2011–12	Report	Australia	South Africa	2	1	1	0
			2011–12	Report	Sri Lanka	South Africa	3	2	1	0
			2011–12	Report	New Zealand	New Zealand	3	1	0	2
			2012	Report	England	England	3	2	0	1
			2012–13	Report	Australia	Australia	3	1	0	2
			2012–13	Report	New Zealand	South Africa	2	2	0	0
			2012–13	Report	Pakistan	South Africa	3	3	0	0
			2013–14	Report	Pakistan	United Arab Emirates	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	28	27
31		Jacques Kallis	2005–06†	Report	Australia	South Africa	1	0	1	0
			2008–09†	Report	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	0	1
			2014	Report	Zimbabwe	Zimbabwe	1	1	0	0
			2014–15	Report	West Indies	South Africa	3	2	0	1
			2015	Report	Bangladesh	Bangladesh	2	0	0	2
			2015–16	Report	India	India	4	0	3	1
			2015–16	Report	England	South Africa	2	0	1	1
			Total				14	4	4	6
34		AB de Villiers	2015–16	Report	England	South Africa	2	1	1	0
			2017–18†	Report	Zimbabwe	South Africa	1	1	0	0
			Total				3	2	1	0
35		Faf du Plessis	2016†	Report	New Zealand	South Africa	2	1	0	1
			2016–17†	Report	Australia	Australia	3	2	1	0
			2016–17	Report	Sri Lanka	South Africa	3	3	0	0
			2016–17	Report	New Zealand	New Zealand	3	1	0	2
			2017	Report	England	England	3	1	2	0
			2017–18	Report	Bangladesh	South Africa	2	2	0	0
			2017–18	Report	India	South Africa	3	2	1	0
			2017–18	Report	Australia	South Africa	4	3	1	0
			2018	Report	Sri Lanka	Sri Lanka	2	0	2	0
			2018–19	Report	Pakistan	South Africa	2	2	0	0
			2018–19	Report	Sri Lanka	South Africa	2	0	2	0
			2019–20	Report	India	India	3	0	3	0
			2019–20	Report	England	South Africa	4	1	3	0
			Total				36	18	15	3
36		Dean Elgar	2017†	Report	England	England	1	0	1	0
			2018–19†	Report	Pakistan	South Africa	1	1	0	0
			2021	Report	West Indies	West Indies	2	2	0	0
			2021–22	Report	India	South Africa	3	2	1	0
			2021–22	Report	New Zealand	New Zealand	2	1	1	0
			2021–22	Report	Bangladesh	South Africa	2	2	0	0
			2022	Report	England	England	3	1	2	0
			2022–23	Report	Australia	Australia	2	0	2	0
			Total				13	9	7	0
37		Quinton de Kock	2020–21	Report	Sri Lanka	South Africa	2	2	0	0
			2020–21	Report	Pakistan	Pakistan	2	0	2	0
			Total				4	2	2	0
Grand total							457	175	158	124

One Day International captains

This is a complete list of cricketers who have captained South Africa in at least one One Day International. Updated on 10 September 2021.

South African ODI captains^[2]
Number	Name	Period of captaincy	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	9	4	5	0	0	44.44
11	AB de Villiers	2012–2017	103	59	39	1	4	60.10
12	Faf du Plessis	2013–2019	39	28	10	0	1	73.68
13	Aiden Markram	2018	5	1	4	0	0	20.00
14	Quinton de Kock	2018–2020	8	4	3	0	1	57.14
15	JP Duminy	2018	2	2	0	0	0	100.00
16	Temba Bavuma	2021–present	17	9	7	0	1	56.25
17	Keshav Maharaj	2021	2	1	1	0	0	50.00
Grand total			644	395	224	6	19	63.57

Twenty20 International captains

This is a list of cricketers who have captained South Africa for at least one Twenty20 International.

Updated on 23 October 2021.

South Africa Twenty20 International captains^[3]
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	2012–2017	18	8	9	0	1	47.05
6	Faf du Plessis	2012–2019	37	23	13	1	0	63.51
7	JP Duminy	2014–2019	11	6	5	0	0	54.54
8	Justin Ontong	2015	1	1	0	0	0	100.00
9	Farhaan Behardien	2017	3	1	2	0	0	33.33
10	David Miller	2019	2	1	1	0	0	50.00
11	Quinton de Kock	2019-2021	11	3	8	0	0	27.27
12	Heinrich Klaasen	2021	7	2	5	0	0	28.57
13	Temba Bavuma	2021–present	9	6	3	0	0	66.66
14	Keshav Maharaj	2021	3	3	0	0	0	100.00
Grand total			143	81	60	1	1	57.39

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^[4]
Number	Name	Season	Opposition	Location	Played	Won	Lost	Drawn	% won
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
7	Suné Luus	2022	England	England	1	0	0	1	0.00
Grand total					13	1	5	7	7.69

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. The table of results is complete up to the third WODI against India on 12 March 2021.

South African women's ODI captains^[5]
Number	Name	Year	Played	Won	Lost	Tied	No result	% won
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	2011–2016	46	24	19	0	3	55.81
9	Dinesha Devnarain	2016	5	3	2	0	0	66.6
10	Dane van Niekerk	2016–2021	50	29	18	2	1	61.22
11	Lizelle Lee	2016	1	0	1	0	0	0.00
12	Sune Luus	2017–present	34	19	11	2	2	62.50
13	Chloe Tryon	2017–2018	4	3	1	0	0	75.00
14	Laura Wolvaardt	2021	2	2	0	0	0	100.00
Grand total			227	118	94	5	10	51.98

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. It is complete up to the sixth T20I against India on 4 October 2019.

South African women's T20I captains^[6]
Number	Name	Year	Played	Won	Lost	Tied	No result	% won
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	2011–2016	50	24	25	0	1	48.97
5	Dane van Niekerk	2014–2021	30	15	13	0	2	50.00
6	Dinesha Devnarain	2016	2	1	1	0	0	50.00
7	Chloe Tryon	2018–2022	6	3	3	0	0	50.00
8	Sune Luus	2019–present	26	12	13	0	0	48.00
Grand total			132	58	70	0	3	43.93

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^[7]
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 conclusion of the 2016 Under-19 Cricket World Cup in February 2016.

South African Under-19 ODI captains^[8]
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	2014–2015	9	0	9	0
26	Marques Ackerman	2014	1	0	1	0
27	Tony de Zorzi	2015–2016	13	6	7	0
28	Kyle Verreynne	2015	1	0	1	0
29	Willem Ludick	2015	1	0	1	0
Grand total			152	86	62	4

See also

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

References

• Wisden Cricketers' Almanack
• Cricinfo StatsGuru
• CricketArchive

1. "List of captains: South Africa – Tests". Cricinfo. Retrieved 3 February 2016.
2. "List of captains: South Africa – ODIs". Cricinfo. Retrieved 14 February 2016.
3. "List of captains: South Africa – T20". Cricinfo. Retrieved 3 February 2016.
4. "List of captains: South Africa women – Tests". Cricinfo. Retrieved 3 February 2016.
5. "List of captains: South Africa women – ODI". Cricinfo. Retrieved 3 February 2016.
6. "List of captains: South Africa women – T20". Cricinfo. Retrieved 3 February 2016.
7. "List of captains: South Africa Under-19s – Tests". Cricinfo. Retrieved 3 February 2016.
8. "List of captains: South Africa Under-19s – ODIs". Cricinfo. Retrieved 12 February 2016.