Full Name

Thami Lungisa Tsolekile

Born

October 09, 1980, Cape Town, Cape Province

Age

43y 162d

Batting Style

Right hand Bat

Bowling Style

Right arm Offbreak

Fielding Position

Wicketkeeper

RELATIONS

(cousin)

Thami Tsolekile, the South African wicketkeeper who played three Tests in 2004, was handed a 12-year ban by Cricket South Africa along with three others in August 2016 "contriving to fix" in the 2015 Ram Slam, and failing to disclose the full details of an approach.

Tsolekile was a prodigy as a youngster, but he needed two goes at professional cricket. Although known as "Mara" by his friends on the dusty streets of Langa township in Cape Town, principally for his skills with a football at his feet, it was his scholarship to nearby Pinelands school which put him on a path to cricket stardom. At Pinelands, Tsolekile broke almost every existing Cape Town schoolboy cricket record, many of them set a few years previously by Jacques Kallis, and at the same time proved himself a superb hockey player.

He went on to play hockey for South Africa at full international level, scoring on his debut, but concentrated on cricket as it offered the chance to make a genuine career from the sport. After making his first-class debut as a 19-year-old in 2000, he captained the South African team at the Under-19 World Cup the following year. His glovework was sound and impressed the selectors on the 2003 A tour of Australia enough to earn him elevation to the full squad for the tour of England which followed.

His Test debut came against in 2004 when Mark Boucher was controversially dropped for the tour India. His was dropped following the opening Test against England and soon drifted out of the game. However, a second chance came in 2009 when he was tapped up by the Lions franchise and he quickly became consistent domestic performer. South Africa A honours followed, as did captaincy, and in 2011 he was back on the national selectors' radar. The following year, after Mark Boucher's retirement with an eye injury, he was back in the Test squad. Again he could not hold his place, though, and darker things lay ahead of him, effectively ending a promising career.
Neil Manthorp

Thami Tsolekile Career Stats

Batting & Fielding

FormatMatInnsNORunsHSAveBFSR100s50s4s6sCtSt
Tests35047229.4017726.55003060
FC16022735584415930.43--629--49935
List A142952614706821.30--04--18623
T20s8050177065821.39608116.110260154914

Bowling

FormatMatInnsBallsRunsWktsBBIBBMAveEconSR4w5w10w
Tests3------------
FC160-000-----000
List A142-000-----000
T20s80------------
Thami Tsolekile

Explore Statsguru Analysis

Test

Recent Matches of Thami Tsolekile

MatchBatWktDateGroundFormat
LIONS vs Warriors20c/0s06-Dec-2015JohannesburgT20
LIONS vs Titans150c/0s04-Dec-2015BenoniT20
LIONS vs Cape Cobras25*0c/0s29-Nov-2015JohannesburgT20
LIONS vs Knights200c/0s25-Nov-2015PotchefstroomT20
LIONS vs Dolphins131c/0s22-Nov-2015JohannesburgT20

Photos of Thami Tsolekile

Thami Tsolekile loses his middle stump to James Faulkner
Dean Elgar is congratulated by Thami Tsolekile
Thami Tsolekile also enjoyed the friendly batting conditions
Thami Tsolekile scored 20
Jean Symes and Thami Tsolekile after the Lions' victory
Thami Tsolekile with local school children during a coaching clinic in aid of Nelson Mandela Day