Dillon du Preez (born 8 November 1981) is a South African

cricketer 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 ...

. He currently plays for the

Eagles Eagle is the common name for many large birds of prey of the family Accipitridae. Eagles belong to several groups of genera, some of which are closely related. Most of the 68 species of eagle are from Eurasia and Africa. Outside this area, just ...

(formerly Free State) and the

Royal Challengers Bangalore Royal Challengers Bangalore (often abbreviated as RCB) are a franchise cricket team based in Bangalore, Karnataka, that plays in the Indian Premier League (IPL). It was founded in 2008 by United Spirits and named after the company's liquor b ...

. He is a right-arm

fast bowler Fast bowling (also referred to as pace bowling) is one of two main approaches to bowling in the sport of cricket, the other being spin bowling. Practitioners of pace bowling are usually known as ''fast'' bowlers, ''quicks'', or ''pacemen''. T ...

and bats right-handed. He was born at

Port Elizabeth Gqeberha (), formerly Port Elizabeth and colloquially often referred to as P.E., is a major seaport and the most populous city in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. It is the seat of the Nelson Mandela Bay Metropolitan Municipality, Sou ...

Playing career

Dillon du Preez made his debut for Free State in the 2003–04 season, appearing in a first class match against the touring

West Indies national cricket team The West Indies cricket team, nicknamed the Windies, is a multi-national men's cricket team representing the mainly Commonwealth Caribbean, English-speaking countries and territories in the Caribbean region and administered by Cricket West I ...

, with his first wicket being

Shivnarine Chanderpaul Shivnarine "Shiv" Chanderpaul (born 16 August 1974) is a Guyanese cricket coach and former captain of the West Indies cricket team. Considered one of the greatest batsmen of his era, Chanderpaul is the first Indo-Caribbean to play 100 Tests for ...

and finishing with figures of 3 for 75. His interest in cricket began after attending a cricketing academy managed by international cricketers

Corrie van Zyl Cornelius Johannes Petrus Gerthardus van Zyl (born 1 October 1961 in Bloemfontein, Free State) is a former South African cricketer who played two One Day Internationals in 1992. As of 2018 he was employed by Cricket South Africa as general mana ...

and Rudi Steyn. During the 2007–08 season, du Preez led the Eagles to victory with 55 wickets. In the 2008 English county season, du Preez played for

Leicestershire Leicestershire ( ; postal abbreviation Leics.) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East Midlands, England. The county borders Nottinghamshire to the north, Lincolnshire to the north-east, Rutland to the east, Northamptonshire t ...

. In 2009, du Preez signed for the

Bangalore Royal Challengers Royal Challengers Bangalore (often abbreviated as RCB) are a franchise cricket team based in Bangalore, Karnataka, that plays in the Indian Premier League (IPL). It was founded in 2008 by United Spirits and named after the company's liquor ...

of the

Indian Premier League The Indian Premier League (IPL), also known as TATA IPL for sponsorship reasons, is a men's T20 franchise cricket league of India. It is annually contested by ten teams based out of seven Indian cities and three Indian states. The leagu ...

, making his debut against the

Mumbai Indians Mumbai Indians are a franchise cricket team based in Mumbai, Maharashtra, that competes in the Indian Premier League and is the most successful team of the tournament with 5 titles. Founded in 2008, the team is owned by India's biggest conglo ...

on 3 May 2009, taking two back-to-back wickets in his first over, including that of

Sachin Tendulkar Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar (; ; born 24 April 1973) is an Indian former international cricketer who captained the Indian national team. He is regarded as one of the greatest batsmen in the history of cricket. He is the all time highest run-scor ...

. In the same match, du Preez took his third IPL wicket (

Jean-Paul Duminy Jean-Paul Duminy (born 14 April 1984), more commonly known as JP Duminy, is a South African cricket commentator, and former international cricketer. He was vice-captain of the South Africa Twenty20 team. He is a left-handed batsman and a rig ...

). Apart from being a talented and accurate fast bowler, he has often shown himself to be a capable batsman, having scored two first class centuries as well as scoring an unbeaten century in a List A match against

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 ...

, while playing for Leicestershire . He was included in the

Free State cricket team Free State (formerly Orange Free State) is the first-class cricket team representing the province of Free State (known as Orange Free State until 1995) in South Africa. For the purposes of the SuperSport Series, Free State merged with Griqualand ...

squad for the

2015 Africa T20 Cup The 2015 Africa T20 Cup was a Twenty20 cricket tournament held in South Africa from 4 September to 4 October 2015, as a curtain-raiser to the 2015–16 South African domestic season. Organized by Cricket South Africa, it featured thirteen South Af ...

.Free State Squad / Players
– ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 31 August 2015. In August 2017, he was named in

Benoni Zalmi The Mzansi Super League (MSL) was a Twenty20 cricket (T20) franchise league held in South Africa. The competition was established in 2018 by Cricket South Africa (CSA) as a replacement for the failed T20 Global League, but only two editions wer ...

's squad for the first season of the

T20 Global League The Mzansi Super League (MSL) was a Twenty20 cricket (T20) franchise league held in South Africa. The competition was established in 2018 by Cricket South Africa (CSA) as a replacement for the failed T20 Global League, but only two editions wer ...

. However, in October 2017,

Cricket South Africa Cricket South Africa (CSA) is the governing body for both professional and amateur cricket in South Africa. In 1991, the separate South African Cricket Union and the South African Cricket Board merged to form the United Cricket Board of South Afr ...

initially postponed the tournament until November 2018, with it being cancelled soon after.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Du Preez, Dillon 1981 births Living people South African cricketers Free State cricketers Knights cricketers Leicestershire cricketers Royal Challengers Bangalore cricketers Uthura Rudras cricketers Cricketers from Port Elizabeth Afrikaner people South African expatriate sportspeople in England South African expatriate sportspeople in India Expatriate cricketers in England Expatriate cricketers in India