Monde Zondeki

Monde Zondeki is a former South African national cricketer who played actively on the highest level from 2002 till 2008. He was a raw and quick right-arm fast bowler, though inconsistency and injuries were Zondeki’s biggest enemies, who never left his side throughout his playing days. The pacer is also related to South Africa’s late ANC cabinet minister Steve Tshwete with whom he spent a year of his early childhood in Zambia. 

Starting as a spinner, however, Zondeki got into bowling fast, really fast, and was taunted to fill in the vacant boots of Proteas great, Allan Donald. Debuted at the domestic circles in the 2001-02 season and soon was fast-tracked into the international arena. The pacer made his debut in an ODI match at Bloemfontein against Sri Lanka in 2002, where he snapped Marvan Atapattu on the very first ball of his international career. During the 2003 World Cup, the emerging pacer was picked over Donald but Zondeki failed to make an impression. 

Following that season, the South African made his Test debut on the tour of England, though an injury restricted his bowling to just a few overs, but a knock of 59 runs made his debut memorable. In his second Test, the pacer took 9 for 105, giving South Africa an innings victory, and later earned the Player of the Match. 

Zondeki was the leading wicket-taker in the 2007–08 South African season, with 62 wickets at 19.17, helping him grab another comeback for the tour of Bangladesh, which later became his last international tour. In early 2008, he worked with his successor, Donald at Warwickshire. The inconsistent pacer played the sport a couple more seasons before he eventually retired at the end of the 2012 season. 

In 2021, the pacer played the Road Safety World Series where he represented South African Legends in a T20 league, held in India. 

(As of April 2021)