6 biggest South African cricketers whose international careers were halted due to racial apartheid regime

#4 Alan Kourie

The South African team photographed during the rebel tour in Jo’burg. Alan Kourie is fourth from left in the back row

One of the most promising left-arm orthodox spinners, Alan Kourie’s career was severely hampered by the racial discrimination prevailing in the country during that time. Born in Johannesburg, Kourie played his first-class cricket for Transvaal.

To go with his bowling, Kourie was a fine right-handed batsman scoring nearly 5000 runs in 127 matches at an average of 34. If he wasn’t born in that era, Kourie could have gone on to represent his country for many years and his all round capabilities used to provide the teams with the ideal balance and combination.

The all-rounder played a total of 127 first class taking 421 wickets at an impressive average of 23.44. In Currie Cup cricket, the southpaw played 107 matches taking 378 wickets at 22.12 runs per wicket. Kourie was also part of the South Africa team that played 16 unofficial Tests and was the player of the year in 1980.