Peter Noel Kirsten (born 14 May 1955) is a 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 str ...

er who represented

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

in 12 Test matches and 40 One Day Internationals from 1991 to 1994. He is the current coach of the Ugandan national side, having been appointed in August 2014.

Cricket career

Kirsten first attended Selborne Primary in East London, and in 1966 scored his first century at the age of ten. In 1967 the family moved to

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 Kirsten was enrolled at the oldest school in the country, South African College School, also known as SACS. Kirsten represented Western Province at schools level in both

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(

Craven Week The Craven Week is an annual rugby union tournament organised for schoolboys in the Republic of South Africa. The tournament started in July 1964, and is named after the legendary Springbok rugby union player and coach Dr Danie Craven. The to ...

1972–73) and

(Nuffield Week 1971-72-73). Kirsten made his debut for Western Province in first-class cricket while still at school, scoring 72 runs in the second innings. At the end of the 1973 Nuffield Week, he was selected for the South African Schools team. In the subsequent match against the

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first-class team he scored a century. He became only the fifth schoolboy to achieve this feat. After enrolling at

Stellenbosch University Stellenbosch University ( af, Universiteit Stellenbosch) is a public research university situated in Stellenbosch, a town in the Western Cape province of South Africa. Stellenbosch is the oldest university in South Africa and the oldest extant ...

he played for S.A. Universities in 1976 and 1977, scoring centuries in both matches he played in. In 1978 he played for Western Province against S.A. Universities, again scoring a century. During the 1976–77 South African first-class cricket season he scored six centuries in seven innings. Kirsten became a professional cricketer in 1978. He played for

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from 1978 to 1982 in 106 matches, scoring 7,722 runs at an average of 49.50. In South Africa he played for Western Province in 133 matches, scoring 9,087 runs at an average of 41.88. He captained Western Province for three seasons during the 1980s, achieving the first-class and One Day Tournament series double in 1981–82. He represented South Africa in all 19 unofficial Rebel Test matches from 1982 to 1989, scoring 1,192 runs at an average of 41.10. Kirsten also captained South Africa in 6 of these matches, winning 4 times, losing 1 and drawing 1. During his first-class career he scored centuries in both innings of a match on three occasions, as well as eight double centuries, still the most by a South African batsman. In 1990 he moved to East London and became captain of the newly promoted

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team. At the end of 1991, South Africa was invited to rejoin the International Cricket Conference, and went on their first ever tour of India. Kirsten played in all three ODIs, scoring 86 not out in the final match, earning him the man of the match award. Controversy surrounded the selection of the 1992 World Cup team, when

Clive Rice Clive Edward Butler Rice (23 July 1949 – 28 July 2015) was a South African international cricketer. An all-rounder, Rice ended his First Class cricket career with a batting average of 40.95 and a bowling average of 22.49. He captained Nott ...

, Jimmy Cook and Kirsten were omitted from the preliminary team. All three players were stalwarts of South African cricket during the exile years. Kirsten was eventually recalled to the team and became the team's most prolific run scorer at the tournament. Kirsten made his Test debut in 1992 against the

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, aged 36 years and 340 days, scoring 52 in the second innings. On the 1994 South African cricket tour of England he scored a first-class century against Sussex, before aged 39 years and 84 days, he scored his first and only Test century against

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. Peter Kirsten finished his career with 626 Test runs and 1,293 ODI runs. Kirsten is currently a cricket commentator for SABC Sports.

Personal life

Kirsten married his wife Tuffy in 1983. After retiring from cricket he published a biography with Telford Vice, ''In the nick of time''. Kirsten comes from a sporting family, his father Noël Kirsten played first-class cricket for Border. Peter, his younger brother Andy and half-brothers Gary and Paul Kirsten represented Western Province. Gary also played in 101 cricket Tests for South Africa.

Rugby

In 1974, Kirsten played flyhalf for Western Province under-20 in a curtain raiser to the first test between the

Springboks The South Africa national rugby union team, commonly known as the Springboks (colloquially the Boks, Bokke or Amabokoboko), is the country's national team governed by the South African Rugby Union. The Springboks play in green and gold jersey ...

and the

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in Cape Town. In wet conditions his ball handling abilities so impressed journalist

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, that special mention of this was made in his book, ''

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''. Kirsten, aged 19, was selected to play for the Quaggas against the touring Lions. He scored 12 points as his team was defeated by 16 – 20. Following the Lions-Quagga game, he was duly selected to play for the Western Province rugby team, but in only his third match, he severely damaged his knee. It would take him out of rugby permanently.

References

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External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kirsten, Peter 1955 births Living people Cricketers from Pietermaritzburg South Africa Test cricketers South Africa One Day International cricketers South African cricketers South African Universities cricketers Border cricketers Derbyshire cricketers Northamptonshire cricketers Sussex cricketers Western Province cricketers South African rugby union players Coaches of the Uganda national cricket team South African cricket coaches South African expatriate sportspeople in Uganda Cricketers at the 1992 Cricket World Cup South African expatriate sportspeople in England Alumni of South African College Schools Western Province (rugby union) players