Fanie De Villiers

Fanie de Villiers, international cricketer and well known sporting personality, established himself as a South African sports hero with his match winning performance against Australia in Sydney in 1993/4, a game still regarded by the media as the most historical and emotional win ever.

Within the first two years, he became one of the top three bowlers in the world, a position he held for five years. In 1995 he was dubbed the best bowler in the world. Williams tried to find the man of the Millennium in South-Africa. After a month of listeners voting, Fanie made the top three. He won the final voting from the listener, because of his all-rounder ship on and off the field. He was dubbed as Man of the Millennium in South-Africa.

• Started the charity “Hear” to raise funds for Cochlear Implants in South-Africa Above all Fanie will always be remembered by the cricket public as a player that enjoyed the game with a smile, and his antics on and off the field made him the newsmaker of South-Africa in 1996. His support to different charities put him above the rest of the sportsmen in South-Africa. In the year 2000 Radio 702 in conjunction with Jenny Chrys Williams.

Fanie’s personal highlights include:

• SA vs. Pakistan at the Wanderers, 1996: 10 wickets plus 66 not out, including introducing the reverse sweep against Salim Malik into International Cricket.
• One of five Judges in the Miss World Pageant in 1995
• Cycling from Cape Town to Pretoria for 2600km to raise funds for his Charity
• Northern Transvaal Cricketer of the year – X3
• Northern Transvaal Sportsman of the year – 1995

Fanie is the only SA player in history of South-African cricket to have scored a half century and taken 10 wickets in the same Test Match. Until today, in one day cricket, Fanie is still regarded by World Cricket as the most economical fast bowler to have played the game.

Fanie’s career highlights include:
• Northern Transvaal cricket – 13 years
• National Team – 9 years
• World Eleven team – 1996
• SA Cricket player of the year – X3
• SA Sportsman of the year – 1995

He had to give up his athletic career because of his successes on the cricket field. At his last meeting at the SA National u/21 level he won himself a silver medal. He is well entrenched and he is an owner of a few businesses. At Supersport he has just finished his 680th cricket show.