Desmond John Schonegevel (9 October 1934 – 6 July 2021) 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 100 matches of

first-class cricket First-class cricket, along with List A cricket and Twenty20 cricket, is one of the highest-standard forms of cricket. A first-class match is of three or more days scheduled duration between two sides of eleven players each and is officially adju ...

in South Africa between 1954 and 1977.

Cricket career

For Orange Free State

A solid middle-order batsman and off-spin bowler, Des Schonegevel made his first-class debut for

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 ...

in the 1954–55 season and played regularly for Orange Free State until the end of the 1964–65 season. His highest score for Orange Free State was 151 against

Border Borders are generally defined as geography, geographical boundaries, imposed either by features such as oceans and terrain, or by polity, political entities such as governments, sovereign states, federated states, and other administrative divisio ...

in 1963–64, made in a little over six hours, and his best figures were 6 for 103 against

Griqualand West Griqualand West is an area of central South Africa with an area of 40,000 km2 that now forms part of the Northern Cape Province. It was inhabited by the Griqua people – a semi-nomadic, Afrikaans-speaking nation of mixed-race origin, w ...

in 1958–59. He captained Orange Free State from 1962–63 to 1964–65. Against Transvaal B in 1959–60 he scored 115, adding 280 for the third wicket with his captain, Clive Richardson, and setting a Currie Cup third-wicket record.

For Griqualand West

Schonegevel moved to

Kimberley Kimberly or Kimberley may refer to: Places and historical events Australia Queensland * Kimberley, Queensland, a coastal locality in the Shire of Douglas South Australia * County of Kimberley, a cadastral unit in South Australia Ta ...

in 1965 and played for

from 1965–66 until 1975–76, captaining them in 1968–69. In his third match for Griqualand West he top-scored in each innings with 79 not out and 138 not out against Natal B; in the second innings he and the number 11 batsman put on an unbroken partnership of 87 to avoid defeat. In 1966–67 his 112 against Orange Free State helped Griqualand West achieve their first victory since 1959–60. Against the Australians in 1969–70 he top-scored in each innings, scoring 49 and 85, defying the Australian spin bowlers "with dour concentration", but this time Griqualand West lost by an innings. His highest score for Griqualand West was 138 not out against Natal B, as above, and his best bowling figures were 6 for 29 against Border in 1967–68.

Administration

After he retired from playing, Schonegevel became a prominent coach and administrator in Griqualand West/Northern Cape. He was the first chairperson of Griqualand West Cricket after unity in 1991, and led the unity process in the region, under which all the racially-separate cricket organisations became one.

Business career

Schonegevel co-founded Desnics Planet Sport, a sporting goods business, in Kimberley in the 1960s, and continued to manage or co-manage the business until his retirement. He died in Kimberley in July 2021, aged 86.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Schonegevel, Des 1934 births 2021 deaths Cricketers from Bloemfontein South African cricketers Free State cricketers Griqualand West cricketers South African cricket coaches South African cricket administrators South African businesspeople