Full Name

Johan Botha

Born

May 02, 1982, Johannesburg, Transvaal

Age

41y 322d

Batting Style

Right hand Bat

Bowling Style

Right arm Offbreak

Playing Role

Allrounder

Johan Botha is the quintessential limited-overs player, who does several things well, adding value as a thrifty offspinner, a useful lower-order batsman and a fine fielder. During the late 2000s, he was a regular in South Africa's ODI and T20I squads, though his brand of economical offspin bowling was considered too limited to make him a regular in the longer format - he has played only five Tests for South Africa.

Botha's best suit is his offspin bowling: he is accurate, he varies his pace and length intelligently, and isn't afraid to bowl at any stage of an innings - attributes which made him a favourite in the limited-overs format. Between 2007 and 2011, Botha played 66 ODIs and took 64 wickets at an economy rate of 4.53. In the 2011 World Cup, he had a fine economy rate of 4.07 in the five matches he played. Before that, in 2009, he also led South Africa to an ODI series win against Australia in Australia in 2009.

However, throughout his career Botha has been plagued by question-marks about his bowling action. His action was cited on his Test debut in January 2006, and following testing at the University of Western Australia, he was banned by the ICC. Botha reworked his action but it was confirmed once again in September that he bent his arm more than 15 degrees. However, after another review in November, Botha's action was cleared by the ICC. More recently, he underwent biomechanical analysis and was cleared by Cricket Australia after being reported by the umpires in a domestic one-day match in October 2013.

Before Botha made his strides as a spinner, he was a medium pacer for the Eastern Cape Warriors - by his own admission he was quicker than 125 kmph. However, Mickey Arthur, the former South Africa coach, had a look at him in the nets and saw something else that Botha dropped his ambitions for speed. The move has served him well over a career that has lasted more than a decade.
ESPNcricinfo staff

Johan Botha Career Stats

Batting & Fielding

FormatMatInnsNORunsHSAveBFSR100s50s4s6sCtSt
Tests562832520.7523834.87009030
ODIs7850186094619.0371085.7700563360
T20Is402092013418.27165121.8100159170
FC9014922401510931.61--127--630
List A1841363923336124.05282082.7309--700
T20s22215351199167*19.511761113.060215141940

Bowling

FormatMatInnsBallsRunsWktsBBIBBMAveEconSR4w5w10w
Tests5101017573174/567/10233.703.3859.8100
ODIs787538232916724/194/1940.504.5753.0100
T20Is4039774823373/163/1622.246.3720.9000
FC90-1465671032206/34-32.282.9066.6-71
List A184-878264551714/194/1937.744.4151.3300
T20s222213433147181664/164/1628.426.5326.0200
Johan Botha

Explore Statsguru Analysis

Test
ODI
T20I

Recent Matches of Johan Botha

Photos of Johan Botha

Johan Botha and Jonty Rhodes celebrate a wicket together
Johan Botha was subbed out of the game for Mac Wright without getting on the field
Johan Botha has brought an end to his career
Johan Botha gave Sydney Sixers a late boost
Johan Botha struck some lusty blows
Johan Botha kicks the ball away after taking a catch