Johan Botha Biography

Full Name : Johan Botha 

Date of Birth : 2nd May 1982 

Place of Birth : Johannesburg, Transvaal Province, South Africa 

Nick Name  : Botes, Stone 

Batting Style : Right-Handed 

Bowling Style : Right-Arm Off Break 

Role : Bowler 

Test Debut : 2nd January 2006 v Australia 

ODI Debut : 16th November 2005 v India 

Johan Botha is an off spin bowler and lower order batsman who plays cricket for The Chevrolet Warriors at provincial level, the Rajasthan Royals in the IPL and for South Africa at national level.

 Early Career

Botha began his career as an ordinary medium pacer for the Eastern Cape Warriors - by his own admission quicker than 125 km/h. It was only after Mickey Arthur, the former coach of the national team, had a look at him in the nets and saw potential as a spinner that Botha dropped his ambitions for speed. Spurred on by Arthur's comments that he would do well to turn to spin, Botha remodeled his action and began studying the art of the off spinner and doosra in hopes of emulating the likes of Muttiah Muralitharan and Harbhajan Singh. A successful tour of Sri Lanka with the South Africa A side - in which he took key wickets as well as scoring runs - saw Botha's name penciled in as a potential spinning all-rounder.

One- Day International (ODI) Debut

A determined and fiercely competitive individual, Botha found a place in the squad to tour India for a five-match one-day series after Nicky Boje pulled out over security concerns in regard to charges of match fixing. He played in the first match at Hyderabad and produced a spell of 31 runs from six overs with the wicket of Irfan Pathan, bowled through the gate. Both Arthur and Graeme Smith rated him highly enough to see him as a vital part of the sides world cup campaign.

Test Debut and Throwing Allegations

He made his Test debut against Australia at the Sydney Cricket Ground in January 2006 during the 2005–06 tour, and claimed batsman Mike Hussey as his first Test wicket. However, he was reported for throwing the ball at the conclusion of the match.He was allowed to play several games during the 2005–06 VB Series, but in February, was suspended from bowling following an analysis by bowling expert Bruce Elliott.He hoped to return to bowling after an examination by the ICC in August 2006, but he was found still to be straightening his arm more than the acceptable 15 degrees. On 21 November 2006, Johan Botha's action was passed by the International Cricket Council and he was again eligible for selection by the South African national team.

He made his comeback during the 2007 Afro-Asia Cup and returned to the South African one-day team during the tour of Pakistan in 2007–08.

On 14 April 2009, he was again reported for suspected illegal action. The match officials cited concern over two components of Botha's repertoire, his quicker ball and his doosra, after the completion of fourth ODI against Australia at Port Elizabeth. On 12 May 2009 the ICC announced that Botha's doosra ball had been deemed 'illegal' by an independent test and that he would not be allowed to bowl the delivery in international cricket. The same test found his off-break and arm-ball deliveries to be bowled within the permitted tolerance level of 15 degrees of elbow extension.

The test was carried out on 30 April by Prof. Bruce Elliott, member of the ICC Panel of Human Movement Specialists, at the School of Sport Science, Exercise and Health, University of Western Australia, Perth. The doosra delivery was found to have an extension of 26.7 degrees and no single delivery tested was within the legal limit. Botha was told that he could re-apply for the delivery to be tested again once he had modified it, or appeal the decision within 14 days.

Botha bowling in the Adelaide Oval nets, January 2009. However his action was then deemed within the legal limits.

Ascending to the captaincy (2010–present)On 20 August 2010 Graeme Smith announced that he was to surrender the captaincy in T20 Internationals but continue playing in the format. Cricket South Africa subsequently handed over the captaincy to his deputy Botha. 

Botha will also take the One-Day International captaincy after the 2011 Cricket World Cup when Smith will give up his ODI captaincy. The deciding factor was also that Botha had led South Africa to a series win against Australia earlier in 2010 due to the fact that Smith was absent with injury.Botha's first match as permanent captain was on 7 October 2010 against Zimbabwe. Zimbabwe scored what looked like a competitive 168 however Zimbabwe's bowling attack severely let them down and it was easily chased by the South Africans with seven-wickets and five-overs to spare.