Kepler Wessels
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| Kepler Wessels South Africa (RSA) | ||
| Image:Cricket no pic.png | ||
| Batting style | Left-handed batsman (LHB) | |
| Bowling type | Right-arm off-break / medium (OB / RM) | |
| Tests | ODIs | |
| Matches | 40 | 109 |
| Runs scored | 2788 | 3367 |
| Batting average | 41.00 | 34.35 |
| 100s/50s | 6/15 | 6/15 |
| Top score | 179 | 107 |
| Overs bowled | 15 | 124.5 |
| Wickets | 0 | 18 |
| Bowling average | N/A | 37.00 |
| 5 wickets in innings | N/A | 0 |
| 10 wickets in match | N/A | N/A |
| Best bowling | N/A | 2/16 |
| Catches/stumpings | 30/0 | 49/0 |
|
As of 26 May, 2005 | ||
Kepler Wessels (born September 14, 1957) was a South African cricketer who captained South Africa and at other times played for Australia.
He was an all-rounder, most noted as a left-handed opening batsman but also useful as a right arm off spinner and medium pace bowler.
He played First Class Cricket for a variety of teams. In his native South Africa, Wessels played for Orange Free State, Western Province, Northern Transvaal, Eastern Province and Griqualand West. In Australia he played for Queensland, and in England he played for Sussex.
Batting Style
Wessels' batting was ungainly and he always appeared cramped. His unique style was well suited to playing on the off-side, and he had the reputation of being one of the best square-cutters in the world at the time. Bowlers soon learned that any ball delivered too wide of the off stump would quickly end up on the fence. Occasionally Wessels would cut the ball for six - a very unusual scoring shot in cricket history.
World Series Cricket
In the late 1970s, Wessels was drafted by Kerry Packer to play for the Australian World Series Cricket Team. As a South African with little hope of playing Test Cricket for his country, Wessels joined the "circus" to take advantage of the better pay and conditions that the WSC offered.
1982/83 England Tour of Australia - Debut
Wessels stayed in Australia to qualify for the Australian Test side, playing for Queensland, and made his debut against England at The Gabba in Brisbane on November 26, 1982.[1] He became the first South-African born person to play for Australia, and the 13th Australian player to score a century on debut. Wessels dominated the English bowling, with scores of 162 in the first innings and 46 in the second. He was instrumental in Australia's victory by seven wickets and was given the "man of the match" award.
Wessels played four tests in his debut series and scored 386 runs at 48.25. England in Australia, 1982-83
1982/83 Australian Tour of Sri Lanka
In April, 1983, Australia played their inaugural test against Sri Lanka. Wessels continued his good form with 141, thus becoming the first Australian player to score a century against Sri Lanka. He was named "man of the match" in Australia's innings victory.
1983/84 Pakistan Tour of Australia
Wessels played in each of the five tests against Pakistan, scoring 256 runs at an average of 42.66. This included 179 in the third Test, which remained his top score. Despite this moderately good form, Wessels was outscored by five other Australian players who took advantage of the poor quality Pakistani bowling.
Greg Chappell, Dennis Lillee and Rod Marsh all retired from Australian cricket at the end of the series, and much was expected of Wessels (and others) to score consistently against the upcoming series against the West Indies.
1983/84 Australian tour of West Indies
Any hope that Wessels and other new Australian batsmen would cope against the West Indian fast bowling was dashed. Wessels scored 4 and 20 in the first test and 4 and 4 in the second test] before injury ruled him out of the rest of the series. He was dismissed by West Indian fast bowler Joel Garner three times, and was nicknamed "Joel's bunny" as a result. For the first time in his Test career, Wessels' form had deserted him and he was not a certainty for selection when the West Indians toured Australia in 1984/85.
1984/85 West Indian Tour of Australia
As a Test player, Wessels' most successful period came during the disastrous 1984-1985 West Indian tour of Australia. After scoring only 13 and 0 in the First test, Wessels was in danger of being dropped from the Australian side. However, due to the poor performance of almost all of Australia's batting in that match, he was retained for the Second Test. He responded by being out for 0 second ball, and many people thought that his career was over. In the second innings, however, he top scored with 61, giving the selectors no option but to include him for the Third Test. Batting up number 3, Wessels top scored again with 98 runs in the first innings and 70 in the second, in a match where the Australian batting was being taken apart by the West Indian bowlers.
The Fourth Test saw Wessels continue his heavy scoring, with 90 and 0 helping Australia force a draw. It was in the Fifth Test, however, which saw him totally dominate the West Indian bowlers with 173. His batting helped Australia to 9 (declared) for 471, which was a winning total on a wicket that was taking spin.
Wessels scored 505 runs at an average of 56.11 against the West Indies, which was more than double the amount of runs scored by any other Australian batsmen during that series. Given the dominance of West Indian bowling at the time, and the fragility of the Australian batting line-up, Wessels' performance during that series was world class.
1985 Australian Tour of England - Rebel Tour links?
Unfortunately, Wessels was unable to maintain his form during the 1985 Ashes Tour of England. Although he scored three fifties (top score 83), Wessels ended the series with 368 runs at an average of 33.45. While this was not a failure, it was certainly below his best. Australia lost the series and suffered two very heavy innings defeats during the series that may have been averted had Wessels scored more runs. Apart from Allan Border, however, Australia's batting lineup was becoming increasingly fragile.
It is likely that the rebel tour to South Africa affected Wessels' attitude during the 1985 Ashes tour. Because of his South African background, Wessels was seen by many players and officials as one of the major contacts for the Rebel Tour amongst the Australian players. While he has steadfastly denied this, former Australian Cricket Captain Allan Border expressed his firm belief in a number of books he wrote about the period.
1985/86 New Zealand Tour of Australia - Retirement
Wessels final match for Australia was the First Test against New Zealand in Brisbane, 8-12 November 1985. Wessels was alone in resisting the devastating bowling of Richard Hadlee, scoring 70 out of Australia's first innings total of 179. He scored only 3 in the second innings, with Australia suffering its heaviest defeat against New Zealand.
Soon after the match was finished, Wessels announced his retirement, expressing his disillusionment with Australian cricket. Little did he realise that only 4 years later he would be playing Test Cricket again, this time for his home nation.
External links
Categories: 1957 births | Australian cricketers | Australian batsmen | South African cricketers | South African batsmen | Free State cricketers | Western Province cricketers | Northern Transvaal cricketers | Eastern Province cricketers | Griqualand West cricketers | Queensland cricketers | Sussex cricketers | Australian ODI cricketers | South African ODI cricketers | Australian test cricketers | South African test cricketers | South African cricket captains | Wisden Cricketers of the Year | Cricketers who have played for more than one international team | Cricket commentators | World Series Cricket players
