Claude William Henderson (born 14 June 1972) is a South African former

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 striki ...

er who bowled left-arm spin and played in seven

Test matches Test match in some sports refers to a sporting contest between national representative teams and may refer to: * Test cricket * Test match (indoor cricket) * Test match (rugby union) * Test match (rugby league) * Test match (association football) ...

and four

One Day International A One Day International (ODI) is a form of limited overs cricket, played between two teams with international status, in which each team faces a fixed number of overs, currently 50, with the game lasting up to 9 hours. The Cricket World C ...

s in 2001 to 2002.

Domestic cricket

Henderson played domestically for Boland and Western Province before joining

Leicestershire Leicestershire ( ; postal abbreviation Leics.) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East Midlands, England. The county borders Nottinghamshire to the north, Lincolnshire to the north-east, Rutland to the east, Northamptonshire t ...

in 2004, Henderson became the first Kolpak registered player in the County Championship, which allows certain players without a British passport, to play in England without counting as an overseas player under the restrictions on overseas players. In June 2006, against

Surrey Surrey () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South East England, bordering Greater London to the south west. Surrey has a large rural area, and several significant urban areas which form part of the Greater London Built-up Area. ...

, Henderson recorded an

innings analysis In cricket, a bowling analysis (sometimes shortened to just analysis, especially in the phrase innings analysis, and also referred to as bowling figures) usually refers to a notation summarising a bowler's performance in terms of overs bowled, h ...

of three wickets for 235 runs from 54 overs and 2 ball, the most expensive innings figures in the history of the County Championship. Henderson was in fine form for the Lions cricket team in the 2006–07

SuperSport Series The CSA 4-Day Domestic Series is the domestic first class cricket competition of South Africa. The tournament is contested by teams from all nine provinces of South Africa. First contested as the Currie Cup from 1889–90, the tournament has u ...

. He was the 5th leading wicket taker in the competition with 34 wickets at an average of 24 He has had a disappointing 2007 season with Leicestershire though. In 2008 he joined

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, Boland ...

and after consistent performances gained a place in the Cobras squad for the inaugural Champions League Twenty20 competition in India in 2009. 2011 marked Henderson's testimonial year at Leicestershire. Despite this, he was also Leicester's leading wicket taker in the County Championship and was a significant contributor in the Foxes

2011 Friends Life t20 The 2011 Friends Life t20 was the second season of the Friends Life t20, England's premier domestic Twenty20 competition. The season ran from 1 June to 27 August 2011. The teams in the tournament remained the same as the previous season. The sch ...

cup win, where his 4 over spell in the final against Somerset conceded just 11 runs. He was rewarded with a new contract at the end of the season. Henderson announced that he would be retiring from first class cricket at the end of the 2013 season at the age of 41. He plans to return to South Africa, where he will become a television pundit and coach. His last game turned out to be the County Championship match at the end of April 2013 against Gloucestershire, where his final victim was

Benny Howell Benny Alexander Cameron Howell (born 5 October 1988) is an English first-class cricketer. Howell is a right-handed batsman who bowls right-arm medium-fast. He was born in Bordeaux, France, and was educated at The Oratory School in Oxfordshire. ...

International cricket

Henderson had to wait until 2001 to make his international debut after Nicky Boje needed surgery. He was selected to make his test debut against neighbours Zimbabwe in Harare. Following the retirement of Boje from the South African test side, Henderson was approached to replace him for the home series against India. Henderson rejected the approach because of his contract with Leicestershire, only willing to play for South Africa if he was given a contract with the South African cricket board.

Coaching career

On 5 October 2021, Henderson was announced as director of cricket at

County Cricket Club.

Career-best performances

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Henderson, Claude 1972 births South Africa Test cricketers South Africa One Day International cricketers South African cricketers Boland cricketers Cape Cobras cricketers Leicestershire cricketers Lions cricketers Western Province cricketers Living people Worcestershire Cricket Board cricketers People from Worcester, South Africa South African cricket coaches Cricketers from the Western Cape