Cornelis Johan Vels (1 March 1867 – 20 April 1963) was a South African

cricketer Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...

who played two

first-class matches First class (or 1st class, Firstclass) generally implies a high level of service, importance or quality. Specific uses of the term include: Books and comics * ''First Class'', a comic strip in ''The Dandy'' (1983-1998) * ''X-Men: First Class' ...

when he was 60 years old and lived until the age of 96.

Life and career

Cornelis Vels was born in

Philippolis Philippolis is a town in the Free State province of South Africa. The town is the birthplace of writer and intellectual Sir Laurens van der Post, actress Brümilda van Rensburg and Springboks rugby player Adriaan Strauss. It is regarded as o ...

Orange Free State The Orange Free State ( ; ) was an independent Boer-ruled sovereign republic under British suzerainty in Southern Africa during the second half of the 19th century, which ceased to exist after it was defeated and surrendered to the British Em ...

. He made his first-class debut for

against the touring MCC in November 1927, aged 60 years and 269 days. He opened the bowling with

Shunter Coen Stanley Keppel "Shunter" Coen (14 October 1902 – 28 January 1967) was a South African cricketer who played in two Test matches in 1927–28. He was born in Heilbron, Orange Free State, and died in Durban, Natal. First-class cricket Coen was a ...

and took no wickets for 106 off 21 overs as the MCC scored 579 for 7 on their way to an innings victory. He played once again for Orange Free State a few weeks later in a

friendly match An exhibition game (also known as a friendly, scrimmage, demonstration, training match, pre-season game, warmup match, or preparation match, depending at least in part on the sport) is a sport, sporting event whose prize money and impact on th ...

against

Natal NATAL or Natal may refer to: Places * Natal, Rio Grande do Norte, a city in Brazil * Natal, South Africa (disambiguation), a region in South Africa ** Natalia Republic, a former country (1839–1843) ** Colony of Natal, a former British colony ( ...

. In a match ruined by rain he bowled five overs, again taking no wickets. In his two matches he batted at number 10 or 11 and made six runs for once out. Vels was 60 years 291 days old when he played his last first-class match. There have been nine older players in first-class cricket. However, only one,

Raja Maharaj Singh Raja Sir Maharaj Singh (17 May 1878, Kapurthala, Punjab – 6 June 1959, Lucknow Lucknow () is the List of state and union territory capitals in India, capital and the largest city of the List of state and union territory capitals in Ind ...

, who was 72 when he played his only first-class match in 1950, was older on debut. Vels worked as a

clerk of the court A court clerk (British English: clerk to the court or clerk of the court ; American English: clerk of the court or clerk of court ) is an officer of the court whose responsibilities include maintaining records of a court and administering oaths t ...

. He married Agnes Charlotte Mitchell in

Ficksburg Ficksburg is a town situated at the foot of the 1,750 meter high Imperani Mountain in Free State province, South Africa. The town was founded by General Johan Fick in 1867 who won the territory in the Basotho Wars. He laid out many erven and ...

, Orange Free State, in 1895, and they had three daughters and two sons. Their son Maurice played first-class cricket for Orange Free State in the 1930s. Cornelis Vels died in

in April 1963, aged 96. Agnes and their children survived him.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Vels, Cornelis 1867 births 1963 deaths Orange Free State people South African cricketers Free State cricketers