Duanne Olivier

A right-arm pace bowler hailing from Bloemfontein, Duanne Olivier has earned his stripes through working hard on the first class circuit. His bowling action which is slightly front-on and his quick arm speed make him an ideal hit the deck bowler. He not only bowls fast but also gets the ball to nibble around. Olivier is a typical South African fast bowler in the same mold as Morkels and Kallis'.

Olivier made his first-class debut in 2011, playing for Free State at the age of 19. It was a period during which South Africa were spoilt for choices in the pace bowling department, with Dale Steyn and Morne Morkel leading the pack, soon to be followed by Vernon Philander.

It took around six years for Olivier to be considered for national selection. During that time, he was picked by the Knights in 2014, was the leading wicket-taker at one point during the 2015/16 first-class season, and traveled to Zimbabwe and Australia with the South Africa A team in 2016.

Olivier also impressed against the visiting Sri Lankans while playing for the South African Invitation XI. That performance made him the preferred choice for the third Test when Kyle Abbott ended his international career for a Kolpak deal. He took five wickets in his debut match in Johannesburg against a struggling Lankan batting line-up.

The injuries to Steyn and Morkel's retirement saw Olivier play more and more for South Africa. He tormented the visiting Pakistan side in 2019 with his short balls and scalped 24 wickets in three Test, picking up the Man of the Series award as well. Even with Steyn's return for the next series against Sri Lanka, Olivier managed to keep his place as South Africa went in with a four-man pace attack.

With a good start to 2019, everyone expected Olivier to form a vital partnership with Philander and Rabada in the Test format, but the right-arm pacer, like so many of his peers, choose to go the Kolpak way and signed a deal with Yorkshire. His focus now is to play Test cricket for England.

By Cricbuzz Staff