Neil Douglas McKenzie (born 24 November 1975) is a South African former

cricket 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 ...

er, who played all three forms of the game. He was a right-handed opening batsman who played for

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

, making his first appearance in 2000. He is currently the high performance batting coach of

. He played for the Highveld Lions in South African domestic cricket and has also played county cricket for

Somerset Somerset ( , ), Archaism, archaically Somersetshire ( , , ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel, Gloucestershire, and Bristol to the north, Wiltshire to the east ...

, Durham and

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Berkshire to the north, Surrey and West Sussex to the east, the Isle of Wight across the Solent to the south, ...

. He announced his retirement from all forms of cricket in January 2016. In November 2024, he was appointed as the consultant coach for the

Sri Lanka national cricket team The Sri Lanka men's national cricket team, (; ) nicknamed The Lions, represents Sri Lanka in men's international cricket. It is a full Member of the International Cricket Council (ICC) with Test cricket, Test, One-Day International (ODI) and T ...

for the upcoming 2-match test series against

South Africa national cricket team The South Africa men's national cricket team, also known as the Proteas, represents South Africa in men's international cricket and is administered by Cricket South Africa. South Africa is a full member of the International Cricket Council. T ...

Early and personal life

Educated at King Edward VII School, McKenzie was a promising junior cricketer, captaining the South African Schools and Under-19 sides. McKenzie is married to South African model Kerry McGregor. His sister,

Megan Megan is a Welsh feminine given name, originally a diminutive form of Margaret. Margaret is from the Greek μαργαρίτης (''margarítēs''), Latin ''margarīta'', "pearl". Megan is one of the most popular Welsh-language names for women in ...

, is also a leading model in South Africa.

Domestic career

With better form in international arena, a further development as a result of his recall was that Somerset announced that it was unlikely that McKenzie would return to the club for the 2008 season, having played in 2007 as a Kolpak player. It was subsequently announced that he would play part of the 2008 season for Durham as an overseas player. In January 2010, McKenzie joined English county side

as a Kolpak player for the 2010 County Championship. On 5 August 2011 McKenzie hit his career best first-class score of 237 in a County Championship match against

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ) is an area of Northern England which was History of Yorkshire, historically a county. Despite no longer being used for administration, Yorkshire retains a strong regional identity. The county was named after its county town, the ...

. Not only did he make his highest score, but during his innings a number of records fell. Himself and Michael Carberry set a new Hampshire record for the 3rd wicket in first-class cricket, setting a partnership of 523 runs to surpass the previous best partnership for the 3rd wicket, which was set by

George Brown George Brown may refer to: Arts and entertainment * George Loring Brown (1814–1889), American landscape painter * George Douglas Brown (1869–1902), Scottish novelist * George Williams Brown (1894–1963), Canadian historian and editor * Ge ...

and

Phil Mead Charles Phillip Mead (9 March 1887 – 26 March 1958) was an English first-class cricketer. He played as a left-handed batsman for Hampshire and England between 1905 and 1936. He was born at 10 Ashton Buildings (since pulled down), second elde ...

in 1927. The partnership with Carberry was also the highest for any wicket for Hampshire, surpassing the 411 set by Robert Poore and Teddy Wynyard in 1899. Their partnership was the 11th time in first-class cricket that a partnership has passed 500 runs, currently ranks 9th on the all-time list.

International career

His Test debut came as an opening batsman in a tour of Sri Lanka but like his father Kevin McKenzie he soon cemented his place in the South African middle order before returning to the side as an opener later in his career. McKenzie made his maiden Test hundred against

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

in 2000–01. Another century soon came, against

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...

at Supersport Park but it would be his last for seven years. From there on in he could not convert his twelve 50s into hundreds although he came close when he was run out by

Damien Martyn Damien Richard Martyn (born 21 October 1971) is an Australian cricket commentator and former cricketer, who played Tests and ODIs. He played for the national team sporadically in 1992–1994 before becoming a regular ODI player from 1999 to 20 ...

for 99. After a series of low scores was dropped from the side. After showing excellent form in domestic cricket, and due to successive poor performances by opener

Herschelle Gibbs Herschelle Herman Gibbs (born 23 February 1974) is a South African cricket coach and former cricketer, who played all formats of the game for fourteen years. A right-handed batsman,who mostly opened the batting, Gibbs became the first player to ...

, he was recalled to the South African Test squad three and a half years later for the second Test against the

West Indies The West Indies is an island subregion of the Americas, surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea, which comprises 13 independent island country, island countries and 19 dependent territory, dependencies in thr ...

at Newlands. Opening the innings, McKenzie scored 23 before a torn calf muscle meant he was unable to bat in the second innings and would miss the third Test of the series. During a test against

Bangladesh Bangladesh, officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, eighth-most populous country in the world and among the List of countries and dependencies by ...

begun on 29 February 2008, McKenzie was involved in a world record 1st wicket partnership of 415 with

Graeme Smith Graeme Craig Smith (born 1 February 1981) is a South African cricket commentator and former cricketer who played for South Africa national cricket team, South Africa in all formats. In 2003, he was appointed Captain (cricket), captain of the So ...

, McKenzie registering a career best 226. He continued his form in the next Test against

India India, officially the Republic of India, 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 by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

when he registered scores of 94 and 155 not out. In the first Test against

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

at Lord's in July 2008, McKenzie batted for over nine hours in a 447-ball innings of 138 to help his side save the match having been asked to follow-on on the third day.''Hashim Amla Century Guides South Africa To Safety''
Cricket World retrieved 16 July 2008 Neilmckenziescg

During 2008, McKenzie became one of only twelve players to score more than 1000 test runs in the calendar year. The year, however, ended in disappointing fashion as he was shown to be out of form in series against

and

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

. That then led to him being dropped from the test squad, after the second test. He played his first ODI since 2003 against

and made a hard-fought 63 in the first ODI, while also playing his part in a successful 4–1 series win, which made

the number 1 ranked ODI team in the world. With

fit again, McKenzie lost his place in the next ODI squad. He was however named as one of five cricketers of the year by

Wisden ''Wisden Cricketers' Almanack'', or simply ''Wisden'', colloquially the Bible of Cricket, is a cricket reference book published annually in the United Kingdom. The description "Bible of cricket" (or variations thereof) has been applied to ''Wi ...

, a prestigious award, dating back more than 125 years, for his form in the away series in England.

International centuries

Test centuries

ODI centuries

International awards

One Day International Cricket

Man of the Match awards

References

External links

Cricinfo player profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:McKenzie, Neil 1975 births Alumni of King Edward VII School (Johannesburg) Barbados Royals cricketers Cricketers from Johannesburg Durham cricketers Gauteng cricketers Hampshire cricketers Lions cricketers Living people Northerns cricketers Somerset cricketers South African cricket coaches South African cricketers South Africa One Day International cricketers South Africa Test cricketers South Africa Twenty20 International cricketers 21st-century South African sportsmen Wisden Cricketers of the Year South African expatriate cricketers in England