Top 10 Things You Didn’t Know About Albie Morkel

Albie Morkel, a right-arm fast-medium bowler and left-handed batsman, was earmarked as the new Lance Klusener, but hasn’t quite been able to live up to his billing despite some glimpses of match-winning skills.

Morkel comes from a cricketing family, with father Albert having played for Transvaal B and his brother Morne having also played for South Africa. He rose to prominence playing for his provincial side Easterns against the touring West Indians in 2003-04 when he defied food poisoning to score a century and take five wickets at Benoni.

Here’s a list of things you may have or may not have known about Albie Morkel:

1. He is an all-rounder who bowls right-arm medium fast and bats left-handed. He was ear marked as the new Lance Klusener from an early age and is famous for his six hitting abilities.
2. Albie has a brother, Morné Morkel, who also plays international cricket for South Africa while his father Albert played provincial cricket in South Africa.
3. During the 2008 Summer season Albie Morkel  played for Durham County Cricket Club in the North East of England along with fellow South African Shaun Pollock mainly in the Twenty20 Cup competition. He was dropped from the National team to the tour of Windies to open door for Dave Miller and others .
4. In 2012, Morkel was confirmed as Somerset’s second overseas player alongside Chris Gayle. Roelof van der Merwe was expected to be retained by Somerset but it was expected that a work permit wouldn’t be obtainable.
5. He joined Derbyshire in 2013 as an overseas player for their Friends Life t20 campaign.
6. In the 2010 IPL, he struck a record third-wicket partnership in the tournament along with Murali Vijay against the Rajasthan Royals.
7. At the 2012 Indian Premier League, he was the winner of the Super Sixes tournament, with a distance of 105m.
8. He made his Test debut for South Africa against Australia in the third Test in Cape Town in March 2009, replacing his brother who was dropped for the game, but his place in South Africa’s one-day line-up has now started to look more uncertain after a run of unconvincing form.
9. Albie hails from an Afrikaner family, who are big cricket fans. Albie was born to Albert and Mariana Morkel as the second of three children; Morné is the youngest; his older brother, Malan also played cricket.
10. Albie is married to his childhood crush, Marthmari (née Groenewald). Their son, Albertus Johannes “AJ” Morkel was born on 1 December 2009 and their daughter Cara Morkel was born on 4 June 2011. The family lives in Pretoria. Prior to marriage, he used to live with his brother Morné and team mate AB de Villiers in Pretoria.