Justin Ontong

Justin Ontong

Personal information
Full name	Justin Lee Ontong
Born	(1980-01-04) 4 January 1980 Paarl, Cape Province, South Africa
Nickname	Rowdy
Batting	Right-handed
Bowling	Right-arm off-spin
Role	Batsman
International information
National side	South Africa (2001–2015)
Test debut (cap 282)	2 January 2002 v Australia
Last Test	28 November 2004 v India
ODI debut (cap 64)	28 April 2001 v West Indies
Last ODI	7 November 2008 v Bangladesh
ODI shirt no.	14
T20I debut (cap 33)	18 January 2008 v West Indies
Last T20I	14 January 2015 v West Indies
T20I shirt no.	14 (previously 23)
Domestic team information
Years	Team
1997/98–2003/04	Boland
2004/05–2007/08	Lions
2008/09–2017	Cape Cobras
Career statistics
Competition Test ODI T20I FC Matches 2 28 14 167 Runs scored 57 184 158 9,978 Batting average 19.00 13.14 15.80 40.54 100s/50s 0/0 0/0 0/0 19/54 Top score 32 32 48 166 Balls bowled 185 538 36 10,358 Wickets 1 9 1 128 Bowling average 133.00 44.00 66.00 42.47 5 wickets in innings 0 0 0 1 10 wickets in match 0 0 0 0 Best bowling 1/79 3/30 1/25 5/62 Catches/stumpings 1/– 15/– 7/– 117/–
Source: ESPNcricinfo, 14 January 2015

Justin Lee Ontong (born 4 January 1980) is a former South African cricketer, who played domestic cricket for the Cape Cobras. He has played two Test matches, 26 One Day Internationals and twelve Twenty20 Internationals as an all-rounder.

Cricketing career

Ontong began his first-class career with Boland, making his debut in February 1998 against Natal in Paarl.

He toured Pakistan with the South Africa under-19 team in February 1999, and then Ireland and Scotland with the South Africa Academy later that year. He played for a South African Invitation XI against the touring England team in January 2000, and was a member of the South Africa A squad that went to the West Indies in August and September 2000.

His first elevation to the full South African squad came with the tour of the West Indies in early 2001, where his quiet demeanour earned him the nickname "Rowdy" from his teammates. He made his international debut in the first ODI in Jamaica, scoring 11 at number nine and bowling five overs. He went on to play in six of the seven matches in the series, but recorded just 13 runs and two wickets in total.

He played a further One Day International in Zimbabwe in September 2001, before being selected for the tour of Australia that followed. Left out of the first two Test matches, he was then thrust into the limelight by being selected for the Sydney Test amid much controversy. After the selectors chose Jacques Rudolph ahead of him, they were overruled by Percy Sonn, then president of the UCB. Sonn insisted that Ontong, a Cape Coloured, play instead of Rudolph as part of South Africa's racial quota policy, and Ontong duly made his Test debut at the SCG. He scored 9 and 32 in a heavy defeat.

Ontong has continued to play intermittently for South Africa in one-day cricket, but has made just one further Test appearance, against India in Kolkata in 2004.

He returned his best bowling figures of 4/66 against Border in 2002–03, and compiled his highest first-class score of 166 against Eastern Province the following season.

In 2004–05, Ontong moved to the newly formed Lions franchise, and played for them for four seasons, before joining the Cape Cobras as captain in September 2008.

Following brilliant form for Cape Cobras in the 2011–12 season, he got a national call-up to South Africa's Twenty20 and 50-over side against New Zealand, at the expense of the experienced Graeme Smith.

In August 2017, he was named in Stellenbosch Monarchs' squad for the first season of the T20 Global League. However, in October 2017, Cricket South Africa initially postponed the tournament until November 2018, with it being cancelled soon after.

External links

• Justin Ontong at ESPNcricinfo