Vernon Darryl Philander (born 24 June 1985) is a South African former international

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by st ...

er. He was a right-handed bowling all-rounder; he had previously represented his country at under 19 level. He played for the South Africa national cricket team and

Cape Cobras The Six Gun Grill Cape Cobras are a franchise cricket team representing the Western Province, Boland, and South Western Districts areas in South African domestic cricket. The team's home venues are Newlands Cricket Ground, Cape Town, Bola ...

in South African domestic cricket. In December 2019, ahead of a Test series against England, Philander announced that the series would be his last series before retiring from international cricket.

Domestic career

Philander was chosen for the emerging players tournament in Australia, and took 3 for 30, as well as hitting 59 off 50 balls in the final against New Zealand A. South Africa would go on to win the tournament. Philander has played English

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, firstly for

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in April & May 2008,

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in April & May 2012, and

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in July 2013. In October 2018, Philander was named in

Durban Heat Durban Heat were a franchise team of the South African Mzansi Super League (MSL) Twenty20 cricket tournament. The team were based at the Kingsmead Cricket Ground in Durban. Durban Heat played in the first two editions of the MLS in 2018 and 2019, ...

's squad for the

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of the

Mzansi Super League The Mzansi Super League (MSL) was a Twenty20 cricket (T20) franchise league held in South Africa. The competition was established in 2018 by Cricket South Africa (CSA) as a replacement for the failed T20 Global League, but only two editions wer ...

T20 tournament. In September 2019, he was named in the squad for the

Cape Town Blitz Cape Town Blitz were a franchise team of the South African Mzansi Super League (MSL) Twenty20 cricket tournament. The team was based at the Newlands Cricket Ground in Cape Town. Cape Town Blitz played in the first two editions of the MLS in 2018 ...

team for the

2019 Mzansi Super League The 2019 Mzansi Super League, also known as the MSL 2.0, was the second edition of the Mzansi Super League (MSL) Twenty20 (T20) franchise cricket tournament in South Africa. It started on 8 November and ended on 16 December 2019. Jozi Stars ...

tournament. In April 2021, he was named in

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's squad, ahead of the 2021–22 cricket season in South Africa.

International career

International debut

Philander made his

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debut on his 22nd birthday, against

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at Belfast. He took 4 for 12, which went on to be a match-winning performance. Philander enjoyed a tremendous start to his international career. On 9 November 2011, Philander made his Test debut against Australia, and was awarded Man of the Match after taking 5–15 in Australia's second innings, in which Australia was dismissed for 47, that country's lowest completed test innings total since 1902. He was also Man of the Series, with 14 wickets at 13.92 and two

five-wicket haul In cricket, a five-wicket haul (also known as a "five–for" or "fifer") occurs when a bowler takes five or more wickets in a single innings. This is regarded by critics as a notable achievement, equivalent to a century from a batsman. Takin ...

s across the two tests. The following month, Philander took five wickets in each innings in the first test of South Africa's home series against Sri Lanka. He became the fifth player in history to take five wickets in an innings in each of his first three tests. These performances led to him being awarded a national contract by

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in January 2012.

Through ranks

In the series in New Zealand which began in March 2012, Philander picked up five wickets in the first test at Dunedin, which ended a draw. He followed this up with a match-winning performance in the second test at Hamilton where he picked up 4–70 and 6–44 for the second

10-wicket haul In cricket, a ten-wicket haul occurs when a bowler takes ten wickets in either a single innings or across both innings of a two-innings match. The phrase ten wickets in a match is also used. Taking ten wickets in a match at Lord's earns the bowle ...

of his career. In the third test at Wellington, Philander excelled once again, picking up 6–81 in the first innings. During the course of this innings, he bowled New Zealand batsman Doug Bracewell for his 50th test wicket in only his 7th match, and thus became the second-fastest bowler ever to claim 50 wickets. The only bowler to get to the mark faster was Charles Turner who achieved the feat in 1888. He went wicketless in the second innings as New Zealand held on for a draw. In October 2012, alongside

Dale Steyn Dale Willem Steyn (; born 27 June 1983) is a South African former professional cricketer who played for the South African Cricket Team. He is often regarded as one of the greatest fast bowlers of all time and the best Test bowler of his generat ...

and

Morné Morkel Morné Morkel (born 6 October 1984) is a South African former cricketer who played international cricket between 2006 and 2018. He is a right-arm fast bowler and lower order left-handed batsman. Morkel made his Test match debut in 2006 and w ...

, Philander was part of a South African pace attack bowling coach and former test cricketer

Allan Donald Allan Anthony Donald (born 20 October 1966) is a South African former cricketer who is also the current bowling coach of Bangladesh national cricket team. Often nicknamed 'White Lightning' due to his lightning quick bowling, he is considered ...

called the best the country had ever produced. In 2013, Philander was one of the South African bowlers who bowled out New Zealand for 45, the lowest Test match total of the millennium. On 20 December 2013, Philander took his 100th test wicket in the first test against

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area, the List of countries and dependencies by population, second-most populous ...

Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu language, Zulu and xh, eGoli ), colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, or "The City of Gold", is the largest city in South Africa, classified as a Megacity#List of megacities, megacity, and is List of urban areas by p ...

. He needed only 19 matches to reach his 100 wickets, the joint-sixth-fastest ever. Earlier the same day he scored an anchor-innings of 59 runs (from 86 balls), batting at number 8, showing off his versatility for the Proteas. These efforts led him to achieve the number 1 ranking in ICC Test Bowling Rankings for the year 2013. On 12 November 2016, Philander took his tenth five-wicket haul in Tests, during the second Test against Australia. Australia was bowled out for 85 runs, which was their lowest in a home Test in 32 years. This was also third time by Philander, in which the opposition has been dismissed for fewer than 100 and Philander has taken a five-for.

Retirement

In December 2019, Philander announced that the Test series against England would be his last international series before his retirement. He retired from international cricket after the series ended.

Coaching career

In September 2021, Philander was added to the Pakistan team's coaching staff for the T20 World Cup in the UAE.

References

External links

*
Vernon Philander
at

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Philander, Vernon 1985 births Living people South African cricketers South Africa Test cricketers South Africa One Day International cricketers South Africa Twenty20 International cricketers Western Province cricketers Cape Cobras cricketers Devon cricketers Middlesex cricketers Somerset cricketers Cricketers who have taken five wickets on Test debut Kent cricketers Jamaica Tallawahs cricketers Sussex cricketers Cricketers at the 2015 Cricket World Cup Nottinghamshire cricketers Coloured South African people Durban Heat cricketers Cape Town Blitz cricketers