Matches (14)
IPL (2)
WT20 Qualifier (4)
RHF Trophy (4)
NEP vs WI [A-Team] (2)
BAN v IND [W] (1)
PAK v WI [W] (1)

Albie Morkel

South Africa|Bowling Allrounder
Albie Morkel
INTL CAREER: 2004 - 2015

Full Name

Johannes Albertus Morkel

Born

June 10, 1981, Vereeniging, Transvaal

Age

42y 326d

Batting Style

Left hand Bat

Bowling Style

Right arm Medium fast

Playing Role

Bowling Allrounder

RELATIONS

(father),

(brother),

(brother)

South Africa's seemingly endless supply of allrounders in the 1990s ended at the turn of the millennium, but then came Albie Morkel. A medium-fast bowler and hard-hitting batsman, he was likened to Lance Klusener but his domestic dominance failed to translate to the international level.

Morkel is the son of Albert and brother of Malan and Morne, all cricketers of varying pedigree, so it's fair to say the game is in his blood. He came to prominence playing for Easterns against the touring West Indians in 2003-04, when he defied food poisoning to score a century and take five wickets at Benoni.

Later that season, he was picked to tour New Zealand but his early ODI offerings were lean. He enjoyed a more sustained run in the 2007-08 and 2008-09 seasons, when he also played his only Test: in March 2009, Morkel replaced his brother Morne, who was injured, in a match against Australia.

Morkel's limited-overs prowess made him one of the biggest buys at the inaugural IPL auction. Morkel sold for US$675,000 to Chennai Super Kings. He made his name as a reliable lower-order allrounder and was retained by the franchise for several seasons.

By 2010, Morkel was only playing ODI cricket sporadically for South Africa but the shortest format was keeping his career alive. He was part of the 2010, 2012 and 2014 World T20 squads; the last of those tournaments seemed to spell the end of his international career.

Morkel remained committed to franchise cricket and was named captain of the Titans franchise in the 2015-16 season in limited-overs' formats, and that summer his international career was briefly resurrected - Morkel was picked to travel with the South African T20 squad to India in late 2015 and took a career-best 3 for 12 on comeback. He looked set to play at the World T20 in 2016 but was left out of the squad. He continues to play T20 cricket at the IPL and CPL.
ESPNcricinfo staff