Roy Pienaar

Roy Francois Pienaar (born 17 July 1961) is a South African former first-class cricketer. He played for Transvaal, Western Province and Northern Transvaal/Northerns in domestic cricket and spent the period between 1987 and 1989 in England playing for Kent County Cricket Club. In both 1983 and 1990 he won the South African Cricket Annual Cricketer of the Year award.[1]

Roy Pienaar
Personal information
Full name
Roy Francois Pienaar
Born (1961-07-17) 17 July 1961
Johannesburg, Transvaal
BattingRight-handed
Bowling
  • Right-arm offbreak
  • Right-arm medium
RoleAll-rounder
Domestic team information
YearsTeam
1979/80–1980/81Transvaal
1981/82–1985/86Western Province
1985/86–1987/88Northern Transvaal
1987–1989Kent
1988/89–1992/93Transvaal
1993/94–1999/00Northern Transvaal/Northerns
FC debut11 November 1977 Transvaal B v Rhodesia B
Last FC6 November 1998 Northerns v Border
LA debut20 October 1980 Transvaal B v Zimbabwe-Rhodesia
Last LA23 December 1999 Northerns v Easterns
Career statistics
Competition First-class List A
Matches 199 233
Runs scored 10,896 6,705
Batting average 34.15 32.86
100s/50s 18/62 7/47
Top score 153 135
Balls bowled 10,388 3,406
Wickets 153 84
Bowling average 33.19 30.66
5 wickets in innings 3 0
10 wickets in match 0 0
Best bowling 5/24 4/34
Catches/stumpings 81/– 37/–
Source: Cricinfo, 14 December 2019

Early life and career

Pienaar was born at Johannesburg in 1961 and educated at St Stithians College.[2][3][4] He was a promising youth cricketer and by the age of 14 was playing club cricket in the Transvaal Premier League. By 16 he had broken in to the Transvaal B team and in late 1979, at age 18, was playing for the Transvaal A team which dominated the Currie Cup during the late 1970s and early 1980s.[lower-alpha 1][5]

After moving to play for Western Province in 1981–82, Pienaar captained the South African Universities side for a number of seasons, including against the rebel Australian XI which toured South Africa in 1985–86.[1][5] He moved to play for Northern Transvaal[lower-alpha 2] ahead of the 1985–86 season and also captained the South African Defence Force cricket team[lower-alpha 3] and South African Cricket Board's Presidents XI during this period, the later team against another rebel Australian touring side in 1986–87.[1][5] He played in four unofficial One Day International matches for the South Africa representative XI against the Australian XI in February 1987.[lower-alpha 4][1] He was the South African Cricket Annual Cricketer of the Year in 1983.[5]

Playing in England

Later in 1987 Pienaar first played in England for Kent County Cricket Club. He was drafted in as a replacement for injured overseas player Eldine Baptiste, initially as a temporary replacement.[6][7] Pienaar eventually played three summers at Kent, making a favourable impression, both scoring runs and taking "important wickets" during the sides second-placed 1988 County Championship campaign.[8][9] Knee injuries, however, limited his bowling in 1989, and Pienaar was forced to cancel his Kent contract.[5][10] He had previously played league cricket for Bradford St Lawrence in 1980.[11]

Following knee surgery,[10] Pienaar bowled very infrequently for the rest of his career. He had first suffered from issues with his knees at the age of 10 and these were exacerbated by the bowling workload he took on at Kent.[lower-alpha 5][5] He played in the only unofficial Test match played against the rebel England side which toured South Africa in 1989–90[lower-alpha 6]

Later career

Pienaar had moved back to Transvaal in 1988–89 and later moved again to play for Northern Transvaal from 1993–94 until his retirement. He played his last senior cricket in December 1999.[1] He captained both sides on occasion and was again the South African Cricket Annual Cricketer of the Year in 1990.[5] As a batsman Pienaar was considered "gifted" and used the square cut effectively.[8][13]

During the early-1990s, Pienaar established a business making biltong. The company was sold during the 2000s, allowing Pienaar to retire in his 40s and focus on his family.[5][9]

Notes
  1. After the end of white-minority rule in South Africa, Transvaal became the Gauteng cricket team.
  2. Northern Transvaal have been known as Northerns since 1997.
  3. During this period, white South Africans were required to serve in the South African Defence Force by the apartheid era South African government.
  4. These matches are not considered as One Day Internationals by the International Cricket Council as the Australian side was touring South Africa without the backing of the Australian Cricket Board.
  5. The player Pienaar replaced at Kent, Eldine Baptiste, was primarily a bowler. Pienaar was more of a batting all-rounder.
  6. A second unofficial Test match was cancelled due to protests against the South African apartheid regime, and four unofficial One Day International matches played to replace it.[12]

References
  1. Roy Pienaar, CricketArchive. Retrieved 2022-08-12. (subscription required)
  2. Roy Pienaar, CricInfo. Retrieved 2022-08-12.
  3. St Stithians produces another Proteas player in Ryan Rickelton, Sports Corner, 9 April 2022. Retrieved 2022-08-12.
  4. St Stithians the team to beat, SA Cricket Mag, 15 September 2018. Retrieved 2022-08-12.
  5. Hewana S (2010) Cool cricketer always kept ahead of the game, The Times, 10 October 2010. Retrieved 2022-08-12.
  6. Ellis C, Pennell M (2010) Trophies and Tribulations: Forty Years of Kent Cricket, p. 140. London: Greenwich Publishing. ISBN 978-0-95640-810-5
  7. Moss S (2006) Wisden Anthology 1978-2006: Cricket's Age of Revolution. London: Bloomsbury. ISBN 9781408197851
  8. Ellis & Pennell, p. 145.
  9. Rabada to follow in footsteps of great South Africans at Kent, Kent County Cricket Club, 28 February 2016. Retrieved 2022-08-12.
  10. Ellis & Pennell, p. 148.
  11. Pudsey St Lawrence history, Pudsey St Lawrence Cricket Club. Retrieved 2022-08-12.
  12. Edwards R (2015) England's 'rebel' tour of South Africa 1990: 'I thought Mike Gatting might get killed out there', The Independent, 22 January 2015. Retrieved 2022-08-12.
  13. Tennant I (2015) Trott consolidates after de Bruyn double, CricInfo, 12 january 2015. Retrieved 2022-08-12.
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