Full Name

Justin Lee Ontong

Born

January 04, 1980, Paarl, Cape Province

Age

44y 75d

Batting Style

Right hand Bat

Bowling Style

Right arm Offbreak

Playing Role

Allrounder

Justin Ontong started off as a batsman, but then also added offbreaks, quicker balls and wrong'uns to make himself a more useful cricketer. Adept in any position in the batting order, Ontong is a fighting cricketer who can play pace and spin, a committed fielder and a handy spin bowler.

Four years after making his first-class debut, Ontong got an opportunity to make his Test debut, in Sydney in January 2002, but the occasion was mired in controversy. Ontong was selected ahead of Jacques Rudolph for political reasons. It emerged that Percy Sonn, then the South Africa board president, had overruled the selectors and insisted on the inclusion of Ontong, a Cape Coloured, ahead of Rudolph, a white player. Rudolph and Ontong were room-mates at the time and have remained friends despite the circumstances of the tour.

Scores of nine and 32 were all that Ontong managed in that match and it would be nearly three years before he earned another opportunity in Tests. He eventually returned to the squad for the trip to India in November 2004. However, the return was short-lived as he again failed to establish himself in a strong batting order and he had to wait until early 2008 for another recall when he was named to face West Indies. A strong 2008 domestic season, during which he was the Cobras' leading run-scorer, saw Ontong included for the inaugural Champions League Twenty20 in India in 2009 but he did not play a single game.

Ontong returned to the domestic circuit and the fruits of maturity showed. In two first-class seasons in 2010-11 and 2011-12, he averaged over 50 in first-class cricket and in the latter season, over 70 in List A. He became a regular fixture in the South Africa A side and made a fourth return to national colours under the Gary Kirsten administration in January 2012.

Ontong was selected for the limited-overs legs of the tour of New Zealand and featured regularly in the twenty-over side since then. He played in the unofficial tri-series in Zimbabwe, where Bangladesh were also participants, and was used in various positions to firm up an experimental middle order. With South Africa's ODI side also searching for the perfect combination, Ontong was one of the players they decided to use in the series against England. He was named in South Africa's squad to play in the World T20 in Sri Lanka in September 2012.
Firdose Moonda

Justin Ontong Career Stats

Batting & Fielding

FormatMatInnsNORunsHSAveBFSR100s50s4s6sCtSt
Tests241573219.0015536.77008010
ODIs281621843213.1426768.9100181150
T20Is141001584815.80109144.9500611100
FC194308231193322541.87--2668--1320
List A252217295453122*29.00--137--990
T20s13410921173559*19.711488116.590311053660

Bowling

FormatMatInnsBallsRunsWktsBBIBBMAveEconSR4w5w10w
Tests2318513311/791/123133.004.31185.0000
ODIs281653839693/303/3044.004.4159.7000
T20Is144368311/251/2583.0013.8336.0000
FC194-1118758661365/62-43.133.1482.2-10
List A252-40923278763/273/2743.134.8053.8000
T20s134637081009313/273/2732.548.5522.8000
Justin Lee Ontong

Explore Statsguru Analysis

Test
ODI
T20I

Recent Matches of Justin Ontong

MatchBatBowlDateGroundFormat
Cape Cobras vs Dolphins49--23-Oct-2017OudtshoornFC
Cape Cobras vs Warriors69--16-Oct-2017Cape TownFC
Cape Cobras vs Knights64--06-Oct-2017OudtshoornFC
Cape Cobras vs Warriors59 & 00/2428-Sep-2017GqeberhaFC
Cape Cobras vs Knights0 & 1281/6219-Sep-2017BloemfonteinFC

Photos of Justin Ontong

Justin Ontong runs out Raymon Reifer
Justin Ontong in his delivery stride
Ahmed Shehzad is run out by Justin Ontong
Justin Ontong drives one through cover
Justin Ontong attempts to scoop Jade Dernbach to fine leg
Justin Ontong chipped in with 33