Marchant de Lange

Marchant de Lange, a tall fast bowler whose childhood passion of javelin influenced his bowling, burst onto the international scene when he took 7 for 81 in the first innings of his Test debut for South Africa, against Sri Lanka in 2011. But he failed to hit those heights as regularly as he would have liked in a brief international career, playing only one more Test and a handful of limited-overs games stretched across a five-year period and decided to call it quits in 2017, using his wife's British passport to sign for Glamorgan as a local player at the age of 26.

De Lange hails from Tzaneen in the northern-most Limpopo province and was discovered at a local academy by scouts from Northern Provincial Union. He moved to Centurion and made his first-class debut for Easterns in the 2010-11 season. He attended the national academy before being contracted by Titans.

After 13 first-class matches, he was called up to the South Africa A squad to face the touring Australians in November 2011, and he impressed with five wickets in Potchefstroom. This led to his inclusion in the Test squad, and an injury to Vernon Philander meant he was thrown into the side as a 21-year-old. Despite his success on debut, he was expensive in his second Test, and was overtaken in the pecking order by Kyle Abbott.

De Lange had more success in limited-overs cricket and proved to be a handy death bowler. He defended seven runs off the final over in the third T20 against New Zealand in 2012 to ensure South Africa sealed the series. That year, de Lange was picked up by Kolkata Knight Riders for the IPL but only played three games. Shortly after the tournament, he suffered a stress fracture that impacted his ability to play in the 2012-13 season.

His rehabilitation included remodeling his action to ensure more stability at the crease but had to wait until mid-2014 to show it at international level again. A solitary game on the limited-overs visit to Zimbabwe in August 2014 was followed by a one-off appearance on the 2015 World Cup recce trip to Australia and a sprinkling of matches against West Indies at home. De Lange lost ground to some of the younger bowlers, and missed out on the 2015 World Cup, and leaked runs in what proved to be his final ODI, against England in early 2016.

He remained a regular on the T20 circuit, with stints at Guyana Amazon Warriors, Barbados Tridents and Mumbai Indians, and decided in early 2017 to take the plunge and sign a three-year deal at Glamorgan. He made an immediate impact, with strong returns in all formats, but shone particularly in the T20 Blast campaign, taking 18 wickets as the club reached Finals Day.

He missed much of the 2018 summer with a hamstring injury, but was successful again a year later, earning him deals in the Abu Dhabi T10 and in the inaugural season of the Hundred. He remains capable of hitting speeds of 90mph/145kph, and retains a penchant for clubbing boundaries, as he proved with a 35-ball 58* against Surrey in early 2019.

ESPNcricinfo staff