List of Knights cricketers

This is a list of cricketers who played for the South African franchise Knights cricket team between the 2003–04 season and 2020–21. It includes the players who appeared for the team in first-class, List A and Twenty20 competitions during the period in which the team was a franchise. The team was formed with the name Eagles, which it used until the end of the 2010–11 season.

During 2003, Cricket South Africa changed the way in which top-class domestic cricket in the country was organised. This created six franchise teams at the top level of domestic competition, combining the existing provincial sides to create an elite competition. During negotiations, five of the six franchises were created without significant problems,[a] leaving two Cricket Unions, Free State and Griqualand West.[b] The two were unable to agree on terms, and Cricket South Africa awarded the franchise to Free State, with the suggestion that Griqualand West take up a 45% share. Griqualand West refused initially to join the franchise, leaving Free State as the sole provincial union for the first full season of franchise cricket in 2004–05. The team joined the franchise during the 2005 winter.[1][2]

The franchise, known initially as Eagles, competed in the 2003–04 CSA T20 Challenge, before the CSA 4-Day Domestic Series and CSA One-Day Cup also became franchise-only competitions the following season.[1][2][3]

During the period of franchise competitions, Free State and Griqualand West continued to compete as separate cricket unions in the CSA 3-Day and One-Day Cups and CSA T20 competitions. Griqualand West were renamed as Northern Cape following the end of the 2014–15 season. The period of franchise competition lasted until the end of the 2020–21 season when Cricket South Africa reverted to a division based provincial competition, with both teams competing separately from the start of the 2021–22 season.[4][5] Many of the senior provincial unions which had been involved in franchise competitions retained the names of their franchises as marketing tools. Free State, the senior team in the Knights franchise, chose to do so and compete using the name Knights.[3]

This list includes only the players who played for the Knights franchise between 2003–04 and 2020–21, the period in which franchise cricket operated in South Africa. It includes the players who appeared for the franchise when it was known as Eagles between 2003–04 and 2009–10. It does not include players who appeared only for Free State, Griqualand West or Northern Cape in provincial competitions during that period, or those who played for Free State after the end of franchise competitions in 2020–21.[6][7]

A

B

C

D

E

F

G

H

J

K

L

M

N

O

P

Q

R

S

T

V

Z

Notes

  1. ^ Eastern Province and Border, the teams which formed the Warriors franchise, needed mediation from Cricket South Africa to finalise the arrangements to create the franchise.[1]
  2. ^ The two sides are around 150 kilometres (93 mi) from each other, with Free State based at Bloemfontein in Free State province, and Griqualand West at Kimberley in what had been Cape Province before the Northern Cape province had been created in 1994. They were the only two sides from different provinces to merge. Kimberley is almost 1,000 kilometres (620 mi) from Cape Town where Cape Cobras were formed by Western Province and Boland.

References

  1. ^ a b c South Africa complete domestic restructuring, ESPN Philippines, 2 February 2004. Retrieved 2025-06-30.
  2. ^ a b Moonda F (2014) Shrinking South Africa, The Cricket Monthly at CricInfo. Retrieved 2025-06-30.
  3. ^ a b Moonda F (2021) Five talking points about South Africa's new domestic structure, CricInfo, 23 September 2021. Retrieved 2025-06-30.
  4. ^ Moonda F (2021) Revamped two-tier South African domestic structure ready to take off, CricInfo, 8 March 2021. Retrieved 2025-06-30.
  5. ^ Ray C (2021) New provincial cricket decision means fewer teams, but a boost for cricketers, Daily Maverick, 14 March 2021. Retrieved 2025-06-30.
  6. ^ Eagles (South Africa), CricketArchive. Retrieved 2025-07-01. (subscription required)
  7. ^ Knights, CricketArchive. Retrieved 2025-07-01. (subscription required)
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