Morne Morkel

A tall frame, high arm action, high release point, good pace and the ability to generate discerning bounce off the pitch makes Morne Morkel the quintessential fast bowler. Long before Morne had played for South Africa, pace legend Allan Donald had identified him as someone who would go on to play international cricket with distinction. He has troubled batters all over with his disconcerting pace. 

The world knows that Morne hails from a sporting background, with his brothers and fathers from the cricketing fraternity. The pacer grew the love for the game while growing up in a sporting environment. However, his 1.96 metres’ height and the lanky built structure helped him to progress to the highest level.

Starting for Easterns, a young Morkel progressed under Allan Donald’s guidance and debuted for South Africa in 2006. After Makhaya Ntini's retirement, he found a berth in the bowling department and took not too long to grasp it.

Morkel had some delightful success while sharing the new ball, for the Proteas, with Dale Steyn. And to terrorise the batters, even more, they had Vernon Philander to the Test pack. This trio was undoubtedly the best bowling attack going around at that time.

The lanky pacer was also part of the South African side that dethroned England to claim the Test mace which is one of the zillion feathers in his hat. Morkel’s ability to extract bounce on death surfaces from unpredictable lengths made him the best in the business. 

While, he was more known for his 309 Test wickets from 86 matches, but he was a class bowler in the short formats as well. And his 188 ODI wickets and 47 T20I wickets are epitome of it. 

On February 26, 2018, Morkel made a surprising decision to quit international cricket post Australia's visit that year, citing a demanding international schedule. However, he continued playing for Kent and Perth Scorchers until 2019. 

In 2020, after gaining permanent residency in Australia, the ex-South African paceman signed a deal with Brisbane Heat to play as a local player, ahead of BBL|10, and is still part of the club.

(As of November 2021)