Craig Kieswetter (born 28 November 1987) is an English professional

golf Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a course in as few strokes as possible. Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standardized playing area, and coping wi ...

er and former

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...

er who appeared in 71 matches for the

England cricket team The England cricket team represents England and Wales in international cricket. Since 1997, it has been governed by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB), having been previously governed by Marylebone Cricket Club (the MCC) since 1903. Engla ...

between 2010 and 2013. Born and raised in South Africa, Kieswetter moved to England to complete his education, and began playing county cricket for

Somerset ( en, All The People of Somerset) , locator_map = , coordinates = , region = South West England , established_date = Ancient , established_by = , preceded_by = , origin = , lord_lieutenant_office =Lord Lieutenant of Somerset , lord_ ...

in 2007. Three years later, he made his international debut in a

One Day International A One Day International (ODI) is a form of limited overs cricket, played between two teams with international status, in which each team faces a fixed number of overs, currently 50, with the game lasting up to 9 hours. The Cricket World C ...

(ODI) against

Bangladesh Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the eighth-most populous country in the world, with a population exceeding 165 million people in an area of . Bangladesh is among the mos ...

. A

wicket-keeper The wicket-keeper in the sport of cricket is the player on the fielding side who stands behind the wicket or stumps being watchful of the batsman and ready to take a catch, stump the batsman out and run out a batsman when occasion arises. Th ...

batsman In cricket, batting is the act or skill of hitting the ball with a bat to score runs and prevent the loss of one's wicket. Any player who is currently batting is, since September 2021, officially referred to as a batter (historically, the ...

, he was considered a one-day specialist, and all his international appearances came in ODIs or

Twenty20 International A Twenty20 International (T20I) is a form of cricket, played between two of the international members of the International Cricket Council (ICC), in which each team faces a maximum of twenty overs. The matches have top-class status and are the ...

s. Kieswetter played junior cricket for

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until the age of 18, but lack of opportunity led him to seek an alternative route in England. He studied at Millfield, where he was noticed by Somerset. The county's lack of a strong wicket-keeper gave Kieswetter his opportunity, and he made his debut for the team early in the 2007 season. Through his Scottish mother, he qualified to play county cricket, and his performances soon generated discussion about his potential to play for England. Around this time, the captain of

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

Graeme Smith Graeme Craig Smith (born 1 February 1981) is a South African cricket commentator and former cricketer who played for South Africa in all formats. In 2003, he was appointed captain of the national team, taking over from Shaun Pollock. He held th ...

, invited him to return to play in South Africa but Kieswetter preferred to qualify for England. In early 2010, Kieswetter achieved his target; some strong performances for the England Lions, especially in a match against the senior England team, won him a place in the squad to face Bangladesh. His selection, along with the presence of other South African-born players in the England team, was criticised; some commentators suggested there should be fewer foreign-born players in the team. Kieswetter scored his only international

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in his third match, and a couple of months later he was the

man of the match In team sport, a player of the match or man of the match or woman of the match award is often given to the most outstanding player in a particular match. This can be a player from either team, although the player is generally chosen from the winn ...

in the

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when England won the

2010 ICC World Twenty20 The 2010 ICC World Twenty20 was the third ICC World Twenty20 competition, an international Twenty20 cricket tournament that was held in the West Indies between 30 April and 16 May 2010. It was won by England, who defeated Australia in the fina ...

. After a promising start for England, he was dropped owing to his inconsistency before the end of 2010. He returned to the team the following year, but his place was insecure, and in 2013 he was replaced by

Jos Buttler Joseph Charles Buttler (born 8 September 1990) is an English cricketer who captains the England cricket team in limited overs cricket, and plays for the England Test team. In domestic cricket he represents Lancashire, having previously played ...

, his teammate at Somerset. Kieswetter's career was cut short by an injury sustained while batting for Somerset in July 2014: a ball penetrated the gap between his

helmet A helmet is a form of protective gear worn to protect the head. More specifically, a helmet complements the skull in protecting the human brain. Ceremonial or symbolic helmets (e.g., a policeman's helmet in the United Kingdom) without protect ...

's grille and visor and struck him in the face, damaging his vision. There was some hope of a full recovery and he was named in a provisional England squad for the

2015 Cricket World Cup The 2015 ICC Cricket World Cup was the 11th Cricket World Cup, a quadrennial One Day International (ODI) cricket tournament contested by men's national teams and organised by the International Cricket Council (ICC). It was jointly hosted by Aust ...

, but he continued to experience difficulties with his vision and he announced his retirement from professional cricket in June 2015, aged 27. In 2017, he became a professional golfer.

Early life and career

Kieswetter was born in

Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu and xh, eGoli ), colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, or "The City of Gold", is the largest city in South Africa, classified as a megacity, and is one of the 100 largest urban areas in the world. According to Demo ...

to an Afrikaner father, Wayne, and Scottish mother, Belinda. He studied at

Diocesan College The Diocesan College (commonly known as Bishops) is a private, English medium, boarding and day high school for boys situated in the suburb of Rondebosch in Cape Town in the Western Cape province of South Africa. The school was established on ...

Cape Town Cape Town ( af, Kaapstad; , xh, iKapa) is one of South Africa's three capital cities, serving as the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. It is the legislative capital of the country, the oldest city in the country, and the second largest ...

, and played cricket for

junior teams between the ages of 13 and 18. Kieswetter was disappointed when he was asked to play club cricket for two or three seasons before returning to play for the senior team; he never received an explanation and decided instead to pursue a cricket career in England, where he moved at the age of 18. He studied for his

A-levels The A-Level (Advanced Level) is a subject-based qualification conferred as part of the General Certificate of Education, as well as a school leaving qualification offered by the educational bodies in the United Kingdom and the educational au ...

for a year at Millfield, where

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, a former

bowler, spotted him. He was quickly signed by Somerset. At the 2006 Under-19s World Cup in

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

, he represented

and won a

Man of the Match In team sport, a player of the match or man of the match or woman of the match award is often given to the most outstanding player in a particular match. This can be a player from either team, although the player is generally chosen from the winn ...

award in a game against the

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for his

innings An innings is one of the divisions of a cricket match during which one team takes its turn to bat. Innings also means the period in which an individual player bats (acts as either striker or nonstriker). Innings, in cricket, and rounders, is bot ...

of 80 off 66 balls. Kieswetter made his first appearance for Somerset's second team in May 2006, taking over from Sam Spurway as wicket-keeper midway through a match when the latter was injured. He scored 94

not out In cricket, a batter is not out if they come out to bat in an innings and have not been dismissed by the end of an innings. The batter is also ''not out'' while their innings is still in progress. Occurrence At least one batter is not out at t ...

in his first innings of that match against

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, and by the end of the season he had scored at an

average In ordinary language, an average is a single number taken as representative of a list of numbers, usually the sum of the numbers divided by how many numbers are in the list (the arithmetic mean). For example, the average of the numbers 2, 3, 4, 7, ...

of over 40. His performances were so strong that Somerset chose to release Spurway at the start of the 2007 season, and named Kieswetter alongside

Carl Gazzard Carl Gazzard (born 15 April 1982) is an English former cricketer who played for Somerset. He was a right-handed batsman and wicket-keeper. He made his debut for Cornwall in 1998 and was their regular wicket-keeper in 1998 and 1999. He also mad ...

as their two wicket-keepers. In early April that year, he made his one-day debut for Somerset against Glamorgan; he made 69 not out off 58 balls and took a catch described as "world class" by Somerset's director of cricket, Brian Rose. He made his first-class debut the following month, keeping wicket while

Derbyshire Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands, England. It includes much of the Peak District National Park, the southern end of the Pennine range of hills and part of the National Forest. It borders Greater Manchester to the nor ...

made 801 for8 declared and scored 63 in the Somerset reply. Kieswetter continued to perform well during 2007 and 2008, and was awarded the

NBC Denis Compton Award The NBC Denis Compton Award was an annual award given to 'The Most Promising Young Player' at each of the 18 first-class counties in England and Wales. The award was made between 1996 and 2011. A player may receive the award more than once. Hist ...

, as the "most promising young player", for Somerset in both seasons, scoring several fifties in first-class and one-day cricket. Against Glamorgan, he scored 93 while batting at number eight. Kieswetter came in after two wickets had been lost in an

over Over may refer to: Places *Over, Cambridgeshire, England *Over, Cheshire, England *Over, South Gloucestershire, England * Over, Tewkesbury, near Gloucester, England ** Over Bridge *Over, Seevetal, Germany Music Albums * ''Over'' (album), by Pe ...

, with the score at 250 for 6. His innings, which included a

partnership A partnership is an arrangement where parties, known as business partners, agree to cooperate to advance their mutual interests. The partners in a partnership may be individuals, businesses, interest-based organizations, schools, governments o ...

of 130 with

Andrew Caddick Andrew Richard Caddick (born 21 November 1968) is a former cricketer who played for England as a fast bowler in Tests and ODIs. At 6 ft 5in, Caddick was a successful bowler for England for a decade, taking 13 five-wicket hauls in Test mat ...

, helped Somerset to reach 402 and eventually win the match. Towards the end of the 2008 season, during a 40-over match against

Gloucestershire Gloucestershire ( abbreviated Glos) is a county in South West England. The county comprises part of the Cotswold Hills, part of the flat fertile valley of the River Severn and the entire Forest of Dean. The county town is the city of Gl ...

, Kieswetter scored his first century for Somerset, scoring from , and sharing a competition-record 302-run partnership with

Marcus Trescothick Marcus Edward Trescothick (born 25 December 1975) is an English former cricketer who played first-class cricket for Somerset County Cricket Club, and represented England in 76 Test matches and 123 One Day Internationals. In 2009, Kieswetter passed 1,000 first-class runs in a season for the only time during his career. Early in the year, he scored an unbeaten 150 in a high-scoring

draw Draw, drawing, draws, or drawn may refer to: Common uses * Draw (terrain), a terrain feature formed by two parallel ridges or spurs with low ground in between them * Drawing (manufacturing), a process where metal, glass, or plastic or anything ...

against

Warwickshire Warwickshire (; abbreviated Warks) is a county in the West Midlands region of England. The county town is Warwick, and the largest town is Nuneaton. The county is famous for being the birthplace of William Shakespeare at Stratford-upon-Avon an ...

, his maiden first-class century. A few weeks later, he scored against

Durham Durham most commonly refers to: *Durham, England, a cathedral city and the county town of County Durham *County Durham, an English county * Durham County, North Carolina, a county in North Carolina, United States *Durham, North Carolina, a city in N ...

to help his county avoid defeat. In his report for ''

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'', Andrew McGlashan described Kieswetter as "another likely South African to make the transition to England colours". Kieswetter scored two further first-class centuries during the year, both at

Taunton Taunton () is the county town of Somerset, England, with a 2011 population of 69,570. Its thousand-year history includes a 10th-century monastic foundation, Taunton Castle, which later became a priory. The Normans built a castle owned by the ...

, against

Sussex Sussex (), from the Old English (), is a historic county in South East England that was formerly an independent medieval Anglo-Saxon kingdom. It is bounded to the west by Hampshire, north by Surrey, northeast by Kent, south by the English ...

and

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly. The non-metropolitan county of Lancashi ...

; he averaged just under 60 for his 1,242 first-class runs in the season. In one-day cricket, Kieswetter opened the batting alongside Trescothick, and averaged 65.83, scoring an unbeaten 138 off 131 balls against Warwickshire. In the quarter-final of the 2009 Friends Provident Trophy, Kieswetter scored his second one-day century of the season, but Somerset were defeated by six wickets. His in the 2009 Twenty20 Cup helped Somerset reach the

of that competition, where they were again beaten by Sussex. He was awarded his

county cap In sport, a cap is a player's appearance in a game at international level. The term dates from the practice in the United Kingdom of awarding a cap to every player in an international match of rugby football and association football. In the ea ...

during the final game of the 2009 County Championship against

Worcestershire Worcestershire ( , ; written abbreviation: Worcs) is a county in the West Midlands of England. The area that is now Worcestershire was absorbed into the unified Kingdom of England in 927, at which time it was constituted as a county (see His ...

International cricketer

International selection

Following his strong performances for Somerset, Kieswetter was part of the England Performance Programme squad that spent eight weeks of the English winter training in

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and

Pretoria Pretoria () is South Africa's administrative capital, serving as the seat of the Executive (government), executive branch of government, and as the host to all foreign embassies to South Africa. Pretoria straddles the Apies River and extends ...

. The South African national cricket captain,

, said he wanted Kieswetter to return to play cricket in South Africa; rather than directly inviting him to play for the

South Africa national cricket team The South Africa national cricket team, also known as the Proteas, represents South Africa in men's international cricket and is administered by Cricket South Africa (CSA). South Africa is a full member of the International Cricket Council (I ...

, he stated that "the challenge is to get him back into our franchise system first, but he is certainly someone we have seen and would like to get back into the system". Kieswetter repeated his desire to play international cricket for England. In 2010, Kieswetter qualified to play for England on the basis of having a British passport, via his Scottish mother, and his residency in England. Under the rules for international cricket, he had to wait until four years after his last appearance for South Africa, which was on 16 February 2006 during the Under-19s World Cup. In January 2010, he was named as part of the England Lions squad to tour the

United Arab Emirates The United Arab Emirates (UAE; ar, اَلْإِمَارَات الْعَرَبِيَة الْمُتَحِدَة ), or simply the Emirates ( ar, الِْإمَارَات ), is a country in Western Asia (The Middle East). It is located at th ...

for a series against

Pakistan A The Pakistan A cricket team, or Pakistan Shaheens, is a national cricket team representing Pakistan. It is the second-tier of international Pakistan cricket, below the full Pakistan national cricket team. Matches played by Pakistan A are not cons ...

. The England head coach,

Andy Flower Andrew Flower (born 28 April 1968) is a Zimbabwean cricket coach and a former cricketer. As a cricketer, he captained the Zimbabwe national cricket team. He was Zimbabwe's wicket-keeper for more than 10 years and is, statistically, the greatest ...

, described Kieswetter's performances during that tour as "a really good start", and described the Twenty20 warm-up match between the England Lions and the England senior team that followed the tour as "a chance for him to impress". During that match, which was played on the day that he qualified for England, Kieswetter scored to help the Lions beat the senior team. Kieswetter keeping wicket against Australia, 2010

Kieswetter keeping wicket against Australia, 2010

After England's drawn T20I series with

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...

in mid-February 2010, Kieswetter was added to the senior England squad for the ODI series against

. He was immediately included in the team, playing as a specialist batsman alongside wicket-keeper

Matt Prior Matthew James Prior (born 26 February 1982) is a South African-born English former cricketer, who played for England in Test cricket and for Sussex County Cricket Club in domestic cricket. He was a wicket-keeper and his aggressive right-handed ...

, in the first warm-up match on 23 February against the Bangladesh Cricket Board XI. He scored 143, his career-best one-day score, from 123 balls. That score, and his performances for the England Lions, led to Kieswetter's selection for the first ODI against Bangladesh on 28 February. Opening the innings alongside captain

Alastair Cook Sir Alastair Nathan Cook (born 25 December 1984) is an English cricketer who plays for Essex County Cricket Club, and played for England in all international formats from 2006 to 2018. A former captain of the England Test and One-Day Intern ...

, Kieswetter struggled in his first over; he made in an innings described by ''ESPNcricinfo''s Andrew Miller as "tinged with nerves" and "chancy". In the next match, two days later, Kieswetter misplayed his first ball and was nearly dismissed; he was then caught off a similar mishit from the next ball bowled. In the third match, he scored his first international century– which helped England to 284 for five and a 45-run victory. England won the series 3–0. In contrast to the "hard-hitting batting" which

Geoff Miller Geoffrey Miller, (born 8 September 1952) is an English former cricketer, who played in 34 Test matches and 25 One Day Internationals for the England cricket team between 1976 and 1984. He played for Derbyshire from 1973 to 1986, captaining t ...

, the England selector, had cited as one of the reasons for his inclusion, Kieswetter's century was patiently built after a nervous start. When the England squad was announced for the

, Kieswetter was named as the only wicket-keeper in the squad, replacing Prior. Kieswetter opened the innings with Michael Lumb throughout the tournament, and ''ESPNcricinfo''s Andrew McGlashan identified their performances as one of the reasons that England reached

the final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event ** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of cont ...

. During the final, Kieswetter was England's top-scorer, hitting from , and was named as the man of the match as England won their first ICC global title. During the tournament, Kieswetter scored , the fourth-most of any player, at an average of 31.71 and a strike rate of 116.84.

Dropped and recalled by England

After returning to England, Kieswetter's form dipped, and he scored 121runs from eight ODIs against Australia and Bangladesh. As a result, when England played five ODIs against Pakistan in September, Kieswetter was omitted and Worcestershire's

Steven Davies Steven Michael Davies (born 17 June 1986) is an English first-class cricketer, a left-handed batsman who plays for Somerset. He bats in the middle order in first-class cricket and opens in limited-overs. He started as a wicket-keeper, playing ...

was preferred, although Kieswetter was included in the T20I squad. Kieswetter opened the innings alongside Davies, who was playing as wicket-keeper, in the two T20Is, but made scores of only six and sixteen. Although named in the T20I squad for the tour of Australia, he was not selected to play, and instead took part in the England Performance Programme XI tour, before joining up with the England Lions to take part in the

Regional Four Day Competition The Regional Four Day Competition, formerly known as Shell Shield and Carib Beer Cup, is the first-class cricket competition in the West Indies. It is administered by the Cricket West Indies. In the 2013-2014 season the winner of the tournam ...

in the West Indies. During the competition, Kieswetter scored two centuries, against the

Leeward Islands french: Îles-Sous-le-Vent , image_name = , image_caption = ''Political'' Leeward Islands. Clockwise: Antigua and Barbuda, Guadeloupe, Saint kitts and Nevis. , image_alt = , locator_map = , location = Caribbean SeaNorth Atlantic Ocean , coor ...

and the

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Kieswetter began the 2011 season strongly for Somerset, scoring in his first four one-day matches, including two centuries. Another century, in the

County Championship The County Championship (referred to as the LV= Insurance County Championship for sponsorship reasons) is the domestic first-class cricket competition in England and Wales and is organised by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB). It bec ...

prompted Jeremy James of ''ESPNcricinfo'' to ask "whether Craig Kieswetter will regain his place in England's one-day side before

assumes it ahead of him". His form earned him a recall to England's one-day squads for the series against Sri Lanka, Geoff Miller saying " ieswetterwill offer some real fire power with the bat along with his ability with the gloves". In his first match back for England, the Twenty20 match, Kieswetter scored only four runs, but he was England's top-scorer in the first ODI match, with . He struck another half-century in the fourth match of the series: he scored 72 not out as England won by ten wickets. A week later, playing for Somerset against

Nottinghamshire Nottinghamshire (; abbreviated Notts.) is a landlocked county in the East Midlands region of England, bordering South Yorkshire to the north-west, Lincolnshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south, and Derbyshire to the west. The traditi ...

, he scored , the highest innings of his first-class career, as part of a 290-run partnership with James Hildreth. Kieswetter remained England wicket-keeper for the T20I and ODI matches against India late in the season. In the T20I, Buttler, his fellow Somerset wicket-keeper, made his debut, albeit as a specialist batsman;

Jonny Bairstow Jonathan Marc Bairstow (born 26 September 1989) is an English cricketer who plays internationally for England in all formats. In domestic cricket, he represents Yorkshire, and has played in multiple Twenty20 leagues, including for Sunrisers Hy ...

, the

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a Historic counties of England, historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other Eng ...

wicket-keeper, made his debut in the final ODI in a similar role. In that series, Kieswetter struggled against the moving ball in English conditions but was praised for his attacking batting, including from in the second match. Based on the number of appearances that he made for England, Kieswetter was awarded an incremental contract by the

England and Wales Cricket Board The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) is the Sports governing body, national governing body of cricket in England and Wales. It was formed on 1 January 1997 as a single governing body to combine the roles formerly fulfilled by the Test and ...

(ECB) in September 2011. During England's subsequent 5–0 ODI series loss in India, described by the ''

Wisden Cricketers' Almanack ''Wisden Cricketers' Almanack'', or simply ''Wisden'', colloquially the Bible of Cricket, is a cricket reference book published annually in the United Kingdom. The description "bible of cricket" was first used in the 1930s by Alec Waugh in a ...

''s Stephen Brenkley as "a tour too far for England", Kieswetter was the only England batsman to maintain a strike rate above 100. He scored one half-century during the tour, and was included in the England Lions squad that toured Sri Lanka three months later.

End of international career

Playing for the Lions, Kieswetter moved into the middle-order, rather than opening the batting; this was intended to prepare him for a similar switch with the senior England team to allow

Kevin Pietersen Kevin Peter Pietersen (born 27 June 1980) is a cricket commentator, conservationist, and former England international cricket player. He is a right-handed batsman and occasional off spin bowler who played in all three formats for England betw ...

to open. He scored a century and a half-century to help England win the series 3–2, though he was outperformed by Buttler. In early 2012, playing against Pakistan in the United Arab Emirates, Kieswetter batted only twice in the ODI series, and was praised for his 43-run contribution in the fourth match, though George Dobell of ''ESPNcricinfo'' identified his wicket-keeping as "still not as polished as he would like". Although Kieswetter dropped down the order in ODIs, he retained his place opening the batting in T20Is. In contrast to the 2010 World Twenty20, when the England players were told to attack bat selflessly, in 2012 the team was instructed to avoid losing early wickets, and Kieswetter struggled to adapt his game to score low-risk singles and rotate the strike. During the 2012 ICC World Twenty20, he lost his place in England's T20I team after a match against New Zealand in which he scored four runs from fourteen balls. That was his final international Twenty20 match. In his 25 games, he scored at an average of 21.91 and a strike rate of 111.91. Despite his struggles in international cricket, Kieswetter had a successful season with Somerset in 2012; he scored 848 first-class runs at an average of just over 60, including a century against Warwickshire and one for the Lions against Australia A. The following year, he retained his place in the ODI team for the tour of India, although ''ESPNcricinfo''s Alex Winter suggested that it might be due to "England's desire to protect the workload of their players ahead of back-to-back

Ashes series The Ashes is a Test cricket series played between England and Australia. The term originated in a satirical obituary published in a British newspaper, ''The Sporting Times'', immediately after Australia's 1882 victory at The Oval, its first Te ...

." Winter's colleague, Dobell, described the England ODI wicket-keeper position as one of England's key areas requiring resolution, citing both Bairstow and Buttler as candidates to take over, as well as the possibility of Matt Prior, the England Test wicket-keeper, reclaiming the role. Kieswetter played the first three ODIs of the series, scoring 24 not out, 18 and 0 before he was dropped and replaced by Buttler. Dobell described Kieswetter as "perhaps... a little unfortunate", but cited his inability to adjust his game and the number of balls he blocked as the reasons for his removal. He played , scoring at an average of 30.11.

Later domestic career

The competition between Kieswetter and Buttler for England's one-day wicket-keeping role also caused conflict at Somerset for the 2013 season: both players wanted to fulfil the role for the county. Kieswetter began the season as the wicket-keeper in the County Championship, but broke his thumb during the third match of the season, which kept him out of action for six weeks. Kieswetter had a particularly strong Twenty20 season, finishing as the leading run-scorer in the 2013 Friends Life t20 with , including five half-centuries. His teammate,

Peter Trego Peter David Trego (born 12 June 1981) is a former English cricketer who played primarily for Somerset. He is a right-handed batsman and right-arm medium pace bowler. He is a big hitting all-rounder who is capable of taking a one-day match away f ...

, praised Kieswetter's ability to build big innings in Twenty20 cricket, and Kieswetter himself said that he "tried to be a bit more of a responsible player, rather than just power blazing." He scored a late-season century against Warwickshire in the County Championship, but in a season in which Somerset struggled against

relegation In sports leagues, promotion and relegation is a process where teams are transferred between multiple divisions based on their performance for the completed season. Leagues that use promotion and relegation systems are often called open leagues. ...

, he scored a relatively modest 606 first-class runs at an average of 31.89. At the end of the season, Buttler, whose contract with Somerset had expired, announced that he was joining Lancashire, leaving Kieswetter as the clear first-choice wicket-keeper at Somerset. Kieswetter signed with the

Brisbane Heat The Brisbane Heat are an Australian men's professional Twenty20 franchise cricket team that competes in the Big Bash League. The Heat wears a teal uniform and are based in Brisbane in the Australian state Queensland. Their home ground is the Br ...

for the 2013–14 Big Bash League. During the tournament, he scored from eight matches including two half-centuries. He entered the 2014 Indian Premier League auction, but remained unsold. He was called up as a late replacement for the injured

Luke Wright Luke James Wright (born 7 March 1985) is an English former cricketer. He was a right-handed batsman and a right-arm medium bowler. Wright joined Sussex in 2004, having started his career at Leicestershire. He was named in England's squad for ...

for England's squad in the 2014 ICC World Twenty20, but was not selected to play. He began the 2014 season positively for Somerset, particularly in the Twenty20 competition, in which he scored six half-centuries in ten innings, averaging just under 50.

Injury and retirement from cricket

On 12 July 2014, Kieswetter suffered a broken nose and fractured cheek bone while batting for Somerset against

Northamptonshire Northamptonshire (; abbreviated Northants.) is a county in the East Midlands of England. In 2015, it had a population of 723,000. The county is administered by two unitary authorities: North Northamptonshire and West Northamptonshire. It is ...

in a County Championship match. The bowler, David Willey, delivered a

bouncer A bouncer (also known as a doorman or door supervisor) is a type of security guard, employed at venues such as bars, nightclubs, cabaret clubs, stripclubs, casinos, hotels, billiard halls, restaurants, sporting events, schools, concerts, or ...

which went through the gap between the grille and the peak of Kieswetter's

and struck him in the face. The injuries were initially described by Somerset's chairman, Andy Nash, as "serious but non-career threatening". He underwent facial surgery, and suffered from double vision for a while after. He returned to the Somerset side before the end of the 2014 season and scored a half-century in his first match back, against

Middlesex Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a Historic counties of England, historic county in South East England, southeast England. Its area is almost entirely within the wider urbanised area of London and mostly within the Ceremonial counties of ...

, though he admitted that his vision was still not fully recovered. Kieswetter signed for the South African franchise

Warriors A warrior is a person specializing in combat or warfare, especially within the context of a tribal or clan-based warrior culture society that recognizes a separate warrior aristocracies, class, or caste. History Warriors seem to have be ...

as their overseas player to play in the

Ram Slam T20 Challenge The Betway T20 Challenge is a domestic Twenty20 Cricket competition in South Africa, first contested in the 2003–04 season. It was previously known as the Standard Bank Pro20 Series until the 2010–11 season, the MiWay T20 Challenge for the ...

for the 2014–15 season. He played all ten matches for the Warriors, scoring at an average of 22.11, including two half-centuries. On 10 December 2014, despite having been named in England's 30-man provisional

squad, Kieswetter revealed that he was still suffering vision problems. He announced that he would not play in the 2015 season and would seek further treatment. The following June, he announced his retirement from professional cricket, saying that, although he was still capable of playing, he could not play to the standard he wanted: "In the end I just thought, there are too many mediocre players in county cricket– and good luck to them– but I don't want to be another one." He found batting in floodlit conditions particularly difficult, and described the vision in his right eye as being "only at 80 or 85 percent". He finished his career with similar statistics in first-class and one-day cricket; in both he averaged just under 40 and had scored eleven centuries. In Twenty20 cricket, his highest score was 89 not out, and he averaged just over 30. In an interview with ''ESPNcricinfo'' shortly after his retirement, Kieswetter said that he would be interested in working in the media, perhaps as part of a commentary team for Twenty20 matches. Although rare, the injury to Kieswetter was followed by another high-profile case, when

Phillip Hughes Phillip Joel Hughes (30 November 1988 – 27 November 2014) was an Australian Test and One Day International (ODI) cricketer who played domestic cricket for South Australia and Worcestershire. He was a left-handed opening batsman who play ...

died after being struck on the head by a cricket ball while batting. These incidents led the ECB to make the wearing of helmets mandatory for professional cricketers in England from the start of the 2016 season, and banned them from wearing helmets with adjustable grilles, specifying that the gap between the grille and the helmet's peak should be no more than .

Playing style

Kieswetter's confident and attacking batting style was compared to that of Kevin Pietersen, another England batsman of South African origin. Although Kieswetter favoured the off-side, he was also strong behind

square In Euclidean geometry, a square is a regular quadrilateral, which means that it has four equal sides and four equal angles (90- degree angles, π/2 radian angles, or right angles). It can also be defined as a rectangle with two equal-length a ...

on both sides, and stood with a typical South African stance, his bat held high. He played with what ''Wisden'' described as an "attractive, uncomplicated front-foot technique". He began his career playing in front of his stumps, but once bowlers had worked out his technique, he moved his batting stance to outside the leg stump to give himself more space to drive the ball. This move had some success on flat subcontinental pitches, but was less effective in England, where the ball tended to change direction more. Kieswetter admitted that the change had not worked, saying that "I wasn’t really moving my feet. I was staying leg-side and playing with my hands. My technique just wasn’t strong enough to cope." After being dropped by England, Kieswetter worked on his batting, which had been described by Steve James as a "frenzy at the crease, as manic as a teenager on a night out". He moved back in front of his stumps, and maintained a calmer mentality, aiming to construct an innings. He was generally more highly regarded for his batting than his wicket-keeping, often drawing criticism for the quality of his glovework. Despite this, he was at times considered to be a better wicket-keeper than two of his rivals for England; Bairstow and Buttler. Nonetheless, playing in an era when international teams did not play specialist wicket-keepers, Kieswetter's selection was based primarily upon his batting ability, rather than his keeping ability. For a couple of matches during 2012, he was used as an

off spin Off spin is a type of finger spin bowling in cricket. A bowler who uses this technique is called an off spinner. Off spinners are right-handed spin bowlers who use their fingers to spin the ball. Their normal delivery is an off break, which spi ...

bowler by Somerset, collecting three wickets. Somerset experimented with Kieswetter throughout the order, trying to find the most effective place for him. He began as a middle-order batsman, but by the end of the 2007 season, although he remained in the middle-order in first-class cricket, Kieswetter regularly found himself opening the batting alongside Marcus Trescothick in one-day cricket, a role he would also take up in opening six matches of the 2009 Twenty20 Cup, although he later dropped back into the middle order to improve the balance of the side. On his international call-up, England chose to use Kieswetter as an opening batsman. He was selected "because of his proven ability to pierce the field in the Powerplay overs, particularly with his booming drives up and over the covers." He later moved down the order for England to accommodate Kevin Pietersen as opener.

Golf career

After Kieswetter's retirement from cricket, his father suggested that he take a break and play some golf. He had done so during his youth in South Africa, playing in provincial tournaments. After some lessons with David Leadbetter, who suggested that he try to become a professional golfer, Kieswetter began to enter amateur tournaments. After performing well in those events, he set himself a target of becoming a professional, and playing regularly on the

European Tour The European Tour (currently known as the DP World Tour for sponsorship reasons), legally the PGA European Tour is the leading men's professional golf tour in Europe. The organisation also operates the European Senior Tour (for players aged fi ...

. In late 2016, he took part in a couple of

PGA EuroPro Tour The PGA EuroPro Tour was a men's developmental professional golf tour. It was created in 2002 by the merger of two development tours, the EuroPro Tour and the PGA MasterCard Tour, as the Professional Golfers' Association and Barry Hearn's Matchr ...

tournaments and one on the

MENA Golf Tour The MENA Tour is a golf tour in the Middle East and North Africa. It was founded in 2011 by the Dubai-based Shaikh Maktoum Golf Foundation. It was previous affiliated to The R&A and the Arab Golf Federation. The previous iteration of the tour wa ...

. In early 2017, he turned professional and in March played in the MENA Golf Tour

qualifying school In professional golf, the term qualifying school is used for the annual qualifying tournaments for leading golf tours such as the U.S.-based PGA and LPGA Tours and the European Tour. A fixed number of players in the event win membership of the ...

in Morocco, finishing tied for 31st place and earning a card for the 2017 season. He played regularly on the Tour during 2017 and in September won his biggest prize of the season, winning US$360 in the Dubai Creek Open after finishing tied for 38th place.

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kieswetter, Craig 1987 births Living people Alumni of Diocesan College, Cape Town Brisbane Heat cricketers England One Day International cricketers England Twenty20 International cricketers English male golfers English people of Scottish descent English sportspeople of South African descent NBC Denis Compton Award recipients People educated at Millfield Somerset cricketers South African cricketers South African emigrants to the United Kingdom South African people of Scottish descent Cricketers from Johannesburg Golfers from Johannesburg Warriors cricketers Wicket-keepers