David Wiese

David Wiese joined a marked outflow of South Africa players into county cricket in the 2016-17 season when, at 31, he signed a three-year deal with Sussex, joining his compatriot Stiaan van Zyl. Wiese had not played international cricket since March 2016, and turned down a call-up for a home T20I series against Sri Lanka in making his decision to go Kolpak.

Five years later he became eligible to play for Namibia based on ancestry. He made his debut in the opening round of the T20 World Cup and helped his new team qualify for the Super 12s, winning two Player-of-the-Match awards on the way. Six months on, he was part of the Namibia side that won their first series against a Full Member when they beat Zimbabwe 3-2 in a T20I series in Bulawayo.

An imposing allrounder, with the skills to take pace off the ball, and a strong lofted drive, Wiese was a late bloomer who came to prominence in the shorter formats. He began his career at Easterns and in 2005 established himself as a regular at the provincial union and the Titans franchise.

As Jacques Kallis' career wound down and South Africa needed to look for other options, Wiese came into contention. He was taken on the 2013 tour of Sri Lanka and played in the three T20Is, but modest returns sent him back to the domestic system.

The 2014-15 summer was among Wiese's best, with impressive performances in Titans' One-Day Cup win, which helped nail down a more regular place for him in South Africa's T20I squad. A career-best 5 for 23 against West Indies in 2015 highlighted his ability to bowl cutters and slower balls. The IPL was watching: in that year's auction, Wiese was picked up by Royal Challengers Bangalore for US$460,000.

He went to the World T20 in 2016 but after failing to cement a spot, took the Kolpak route to county cricket. After a lean first season with Sussex, he improved in 2018, taking 41 wickets and passing the 500-run mark in the Championship and providing late-order impetus as his side reached the Vitality Blast final, while his breath-taking 171 off 126 balls in a 50-over defeat at Hampshire was one of the innings of the 2019 season.