FANIE de VILLIERS – STORY

Before AB de Villiers, two decades ago, South Africa has seen another de Villiers serving her tirelessly and defying all the adversities that came in his way, Fanie de Villiers was one of the remarkable characters who in spite of a short career has always been rated high, both by his teammates and opponents

  

Sydney 1994 - de Villiers finest moment

January 6^th, 1994, Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG), Day 5^th of 2^nd Test between Australia and South Africa began with Australia needing 54 runs with 6 wickets in hand. Within a couple of hours, the Test ended in one of the most glorious thrillers of all the time with South Africa nailing it by 5 runs. Fanie de Villiers, playing in only his second test, took 6-43 and defying all the numbers before the start of the play which said, South Africa chances for winning the Test was as much as The Soviet Union coming into existence again.

Petrus Stephanus de Villiers was born in Vereeniging, Transvaal on 13^th October 1964. He had a first taste of cricket with his family. Popularly known as Fannie he made his international baptism against India’s friendly tour of South Africa in 1992. Often hailed as a miserly fellow for keeping a tight check on the run scoring, de Villiers was quite lively beyond cricket and someone who used to enjoy himself, probably because of the struggle he has to face to reach to the heights of international cricket.

de Villiers always enjoyed the moment, here  showing the red card to the spectators on 1994 tour of England

On the 1993-94 Australian tour, he surprised everyone by sending drinks through remote control car at WACA. On 1994 England’s tour, in a humorous manner, he bit the ear of umpire David Shepherd; Shepherd later signed the photo for him. At Headingly he showed a red card to the umpire when he denied his LBW. Fanie always preferred to enjoy the game in a humorous manner rather than being too involved in it or being too careless. That’s why he has captured cycling in a crowded Peshawar market during the 1996 World Cup.

Cycling in Peshawar during 1996 World Cup

shopping with Stev Palframan in Peshwar during 1996 World Cup

In spite of being termed as limited over specialist, de Villiers played only one world cup match and that was the 1996 World Cup in the Asian subcontinent. Someone who was master of cutters and who deceived the best in the business including Sachin Tendulkar, it was nothing less than a surprise. However de Villiers didn’t have any such grudges, he was the one who started late, and with the language barrier, he just enjoyed the time he had in international cricket. He once said to ESPN Cricinfo in an interview "Language is a terrible barrier, It is a massive barrier. More than one can think. I learned English at school, but I could only understand and read and write. When I spoke English, I sounded stupid. As an Afrikaner, sitting there, checking everybody out - these English-speaking boys plus West Indians. It was tough.’’

 In 1993, on Sri Lankan tour during a Test match when the team had left the ground, Fanie stayed on the field asking the crowd to stand up and sit down to create a Mexican wave. On 1996 tour of India, South Africa was playing in Kolkata (then Calcutta) he uses to go out hire tuk-tuk and use to ask the rickshaw driver to take him to his home. There was once instance when he had lunch at the driver’s home and then played street cricket as well.

Sydney 1994- A joyous South African team, de Villiers being carried by late Hansie Cronje

Fanie was as brilliant on the field as outside, he was South Africa’s leading bowler behind Allan Donald till Shaun Pollock emerged. He was the man of the match for his brilliant 10-123 in only his second Test at Sydney. Against New Zealand in 1994-95 series, he picked up 20 wickets and was the best bowler of the series. A few weeks, later he decimated Saleem Malik’s men on spicy Johannesburg pitch, picking up his second ten-wicket haul. He ended up South Africa’s player of the year in 1995 picking 22 wickets in just 3 Tests. However, this was the time when age started catching his body. Till the Auckland Test in March 1995, de Villiers had played 14 tests for South Africa and picked up 70 wickets while he was only 30 at that time but the long vigil in 1994-95 season where he bowled 387.1 overs (July 1994-March 1995) took a heavy toll on his body and the result was evident later when missed 6 straights tests (against Zimbabwe and England).

de Villiers in Titan Cup in 1996, the tour that was signal that he out of favor

He returned on India tour in winter of 1996 and bowled impressively in Titan cup tournament foxing Sachin Tendulkar especially with his cutters. However, his average performance in Tests was signal for selectors that it was a time that Shaun Pollock was to be permanently drafted in team as partner of Allan Donald.

The end of India’s tour in December 1996 was probably the signal that de Villiers was slowly and steadily was getting out of taste. He missed the next 13 Tests for South Africa and only played four One day matches after that Indian Tour. He returned against Pakistan in March 1998 to play his final Test and with an impeccable performance of 8-48, he bid adieu to the international arena.

He was as good in limited-overs as he was in Tests

Fanie will be remembered not only because of the way he played cricket in and outside the game but also because he was never involved in any kind of indiscipline. He was a thorough reader of the game. Some of his spells could even leave the world’s worst miser to shame. The 90s cricket fan can still remember how he choked Sri Lanka at Premadasa with a brilliant spell of 3-15 in 10 overs on 1993 tour or  in spite of ending on a losing side in Hero Cup semi-final, he made it difficult for Indians to score off him with a spell that deserved to be on the winning side (3-19 in 10 overs).

De Villiers ended up with 85 wickets in 18 Tests and 95 in 83 ODI’s in his career which stretched a little more than 5 years, however, it was due to his contributions to the South African cricket in initial years that left an everlasting impression on everyone.