Xenophon Constantine Balaskas (15 October 1910 – 12 May 1994), sometimes known as Xen or Bally, was a South African

all-rounder An all-rounder is a cricketer who regularly performs well at both batting and bowling. Although all bowlers must bat and quite a handful of batsmen do bowl occasionally, most players are skilled in only one of the two disciplines and are consi ...

who scored 2,696

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 one of three or more days' scheduled duration between two sides of eleven players each and is officiall ...

runs at 28.68 and took 276 wickets at 24.11 with his leg-spin bowling. Born in

Kimberley Kimberly or Kimberley may refer to: Places and historical events Australia * Kimberley (Western Australia) ** Roman Catholic Diocese of Kimberley * Kimberley Warm Springs, Tasmania * Kimberley, Tasmania a small town * County of Kimberley, a ...

to Greek immigrant parents, Balaskas made his first-class debut for Griqualand West in 1926/27, but did not really break through until 1929/30. In that year he topped both the runs and wickets lists in the

Currie Cup The Currie Cup is South Africa's premier domestic rugby union competition, played each winter and spring (June to October), featuring teams representing either entire provinces or substantial regions within provinces. Although it is the premier ...

by taking 39 wickets at 21.20, including five five-wicket hauls, and scoring 644 runs at over 80, including a career-best 206 against

Rhodesia Rhodesia (, ), officially from 1970 the Republic of Rhodesia, was an unrecognised state in Southern Africa from 1965 to 1979, equivalent in territory to modern Zimbabwe. Rhodesia was the ''de facto'' successor state to the British colony of S ...

. The following season he made his Test match debut at

Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu and xh, eGoli ), colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, or "The City of Gold", is the largest city in South Africa, classified as a megacity, and is one of the 100 largest urban areas in the world. According to Demo ...

's Old Wanderers ground, but made no impact, scoring 7 and 3 and bowling just two overs in the match. The second Test at

Cape Town Cape Town ( af, Kaapstad; , xh, iKapa) is one of South Africa's three capital cities, serving as the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. It is the legislative capital of the country, the oldest city in the country, and the second largest ...

proved only slightly better: South Africa recorded an innings victory, but Balaskas made a duck and took 2–104 in the match; he was dropped for the rest of the series. In 1931/32 he toured Australia and

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with South Africa, but could make the Test side only for the second leg of the tour, repaying the selectors with his only Test century, 122 not out at

Wellington Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by me ...

. His next Test appearances came in England in 1935, and it was there at

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(his only appearance of the series) that he produced the best bowling performance of his career, recording splendid

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of 32–8–49–5 and 27–8–54–4 to help his country to their first Test victory on English soil. Balaskas took nine wickets in three Tests against Australia the following winter, and playing for

Transvaal Transvaal is a historical geographic term associated with land north of (''i.e.'', beyond) the Vaal River in South Africa. A number of states and administrative divisions have carried the name Transvaal. * South African Republic (1856–1902; af, ...

took 8–60 against Western Province in 1937/38, but there was to be only one further international appearance, against

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

at Cape Town in 1938/39, and a return of 0–115, together with the coming of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, sealed his fate as a Test cricketer. He resumed his domestic cricket career after the war, and enjoyed a fine 1945/46 season when he took 47 wickets at 15.95, but after a couple of matches the following year he hung up his bat for good. Balaskas has the third-lowest Test Match batting average of any player who has made a century, with 14.50. He died in

Hyde Park Hyde Park may refer to: Places England * Hyde Park, London, a Royal Park in Central London * Hyde Park, Leeds, an inner-city area of north-west Leeds * Hyde Park, Sheffield, district of Sheffield * Hyde Park, in Hyde, Greater Manchester Austra ...

at the age of 83.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Balaskas, Xenophon 1910 births 1994 deaths Border cricketers Gauteng cricketers Griqualand West cricketers South Africa Test cricketers South African cricketers Western Province cricketers South African people of Greek descent Cricketers from Kimberley, Northern Cape