AB de Villiers names his childhood friend as the best bowler he has ever faced

AB de Villiers has established himself as one of the modern greats of the game, with his unmatched ability to change gears according to the situation of the match. He can block the ball in Tests, or bash them in T20s, dead-batting deliveries the whole day, or smashing sixes at will.

The 32-year old, over the course of his 12-year international career, has dominated bowlers of all kinds from all over. The way he dismantled Dale Steyn, the best bowler in the world in an IPL match for the Royal Challengers Bangalore in 2014, goes to show what a nightmare he is even for the top of the lot.

Yet, he has recently admitted in his autobiography that there was one bowler he considers to be the best he has ever faced. Surprisingly, it is not an international bowler!

For de Villiers, Gerrit Deist, one of the childhood friends of his eldest brother, is the best bowler he has faced. He also states in his autobiography that it is not the answer he gives to the media, because that would involve a lengthy explanation every time. He last played club cricket with Deist for the Tukkies.

Despite being 11 years elder to de Villiers, they used to play cricket together while growing up in Warmbaths. The South African describes Deist as a ‘tall, strong fast bowler’. Deist played one first-class match, but could never climb his way up and join the national side.

De Villiers also reveals that he used to play childhood cricket under a very challenging environment, with the seniors picking on him for every small mistake he did. He also tells how one of his beloved caps, autographed by Jonty Rhodes, was taken away from him by Deist after de Villiers had dropped a catch off the latter’s bowling.