Phenyo Victor Mpitsang (born 28 March 1980) 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. A

fast bowler Fast bowling (also referred to as pace bowling) is a type of bowling in cricket, in which the ball is delivered at high speed. The fastest bowlers bowl the ball at over . Practitioners of fast bowling are known as fast bowlers or quicks. Also ...

, he played two

One Day International One Day International (ODI) is a format of cricket, played between two teams with international status, in which each team faces a fixed number of fifty overs, with the game lasting up to 7 hours. The World Cup, generally held every four yea ...

s 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 ...

in 1999. He represented Free State and subsequently the

Eagles Eagle is the common name for the golden eagle, bald eagle, and other birds of prey in the family of the Accipitridae. Eagles belong to several groups of Genus, genera, some of which are closely related. True eagles comprise the genus ''Aquila ( ...

franchise. On 20 October 2020, Cricket South Africa (CSA) announced his appointment as the new National Convenor of Selectors, a full-time appointment commencing on 2 November 2020.

Early years

Mpitsang was born in

Schweizer-Reneke Schweizer-Reneke, sometimes referred to as Schweizer, is a town in the North West Province of South Africa. It is the administrative centre of Mamusa Local Municipality.

, and was spotted as a youngster by

Corrie van Zyl Corrie may refer to: Arts and entertainment * nickname of ''Coronation Street'', a long-running British television soap opera ** '' Corrie!'', a play written to celebrate the 50th Anniversary of ''Coronation Street'' in 2010 * The Corries, a Scott ...

. A

bursary A bursary is a monetary award made by any educational institution or funding authority to individuals or groups. It is usually awarded to enable a student to attend school, university or college when they might not be able to, otherwise. Some awar ...

was arranged for him as part of the UCB's development programme, enabling him to be educated at

Grey College, Bloemfontein Grey College (Afrikaans: ''Grey Kollege'') is a semi-private English & Afrikaans medium school for boys situated in the suburb of Universitas in Bloemfontein in the Free State province of South Africa, it is one of the 23 Milner Schools. ...

. He played in three under-19 Test matches and eight under-19 ODIs in 1997 and 1998. He was a member of the South African squad for the 1998 Under-19 World Cup, taking seven wickets in five appearances at an average of 26.57, with best figures of 3/27 against India. His first-class debut for Free State came in the 1997–98

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 ...

when he was selected for the fixture against

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East London East London is the part of London, England, east of the ancient City of London and north of the River Thames as it begins to widen. East London developed as London Docklands, London's docklands and the primary industrial centre. The expansion of ...

International cricket

In January 1999, Mpitsang was named in the senior South African squad for the tour of

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 ...

. According to Ray White, president of the UCB at the time, this decision was taken to "broaden his cricket experience and give him the benefit of touring with the national team". Following the announcement of the squad for New Zealand, he was given his senior debut in an ODI 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 Springbok Park,

Bloemfontein Bloemfontein ( ; ), also known as Bloem, is the capital and the largest city of the Free State (province), Free State province in South Africa. It is often, and has been traditionally, referred to as the country's "judicial capital", alongsi ...

. He opened the bowling and took 2/49, dismissing

Nixon McLean Nixon Alexei McNamara McLean (born 20 July 1973) is a West Indian cricketer from St. Vincent and the Grenadines. He featured in the role of a right-arm fast-medium bowler who played both Tests and ODIs for the West Indies. McLean also featured ...

and

Daren Ganga Daren Ganga (born 14 January 1979) is a former Trinidadian cricketer. He was a right-handed top order batsman and part-time right-arm off spinner. He was named the 2006 West Indies Players' Association 'Test player of the year', Ganga captaine ...

with consecutive deliveries. He remains the youngest ODI debutant for South Africa at the age of 18 years and 314 days. He did not feature in the international fixtures on the New Zealand tour, although he did play in the games against Northern Districts and New Zealand A. His next international opportunity came during the LG Cup in Kenya later in 1999, when he played against the host nation in

Nairobi Nairobi is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Kenya. The city lies in the south-central part of Kenya, at an elevation of . The name is derived from the Maasai language, Maasai phrase , which translates to 'place of cool waters', a ...

. He failed to take a wicket in his three overs on that occasion. He has not been selected for the national side since then, although he has appeared for South Africa A 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, ...

A in 1999–2000 and also on a tour of the West Indies in 2000–01.

Domestic cricket

The 2000–01 season saw Mpitsang record both his best first-class bowling figures (5/24 against North West in Bloemfontein) and his highest first-class innings (23 against

Western Province Western Province or West Province may refer to: *Western Province, Cameroon *Western Province, Rwanda *Western Province (Kenya) *Western Province (Papua New Guinea) *Western Province (Solomon Islands) *Western Province, Sri Lanka *Western Provinc ...

Cape Town Cape Town is the legislature, legislative capital city, capital of South Africa. It is the country's oldest city and the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. Cape Town is the country's List of municipalities in South Africa, second-largest ...

). He took a total of 33 first-class wickets during the course of that 2000–01 domestic season, a tally which he equalled in 2007–08. In 2005–06, he was a member of the Eagles side that defeated the

Cape Cobras The Cape Cobras are a former franchise cricket team representing the Western Province, Boland, and South Western Districts regions in what was the South African domestic franchise era. The team's home venues were based between Newlands ...

in the final of the

Standard Bank Standard Bank (officially Standard Bank Group Limited) is the largest bank in Africa, as well as the continent's biggest lender by assets. The company's corporate headquarters, Standard Bank Centre, is located in Johannesburg, Gauteng. The ...

Pro20 series. During the 2008 English season, he appeared as an overseas professional for Knypersley CC in

Staffordshire Staffordshire (; postal abbreviation ''Staffs''.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England. It borders Cheshire to the north-west, Derbyshire and Leicestershire to the east, ...

Other achievements

Mpitsang has also played basketball for Free State.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Mpitsang, Victor 1980 births Living people Cricketers from Kimberley, Northern Cape South African cricketers South Africa One Day International cricketers Free State cricketers Knights cricketers 21st-century South African sportsmen Alumni of Grey College, Bloemfontein