Johan Botha Biography, Bowling, Batting & Fielding Stats

Johan Botha is a South African cricket coach, cricketer, and long-distance runner. He was born on May 2, 1982, and he played for the South African national team between the years 2005 and 2012. Other accomplishments include coaching. After moving to Australia in 2012 to compete in the domestic leagues of that nation, he eventually became a citizen of Australia in 2016. He withdrew from all aspects of the game in January of 2019, therefore retiring.

However, he made a return in December 2020 by playing for the Hobart Hurricanes in the Big Bash League during the 2020–21 season. He was doing so as a substitute player. Botha was born in Johannesburg, although he went to Grey High School in Port Elizabeth. He was a member of the same school as other renowned South African cricketers, such as Graeme Pollock, and he led a South Africa school cricket team during his time there. At the beginning of his career as a cricket player, he was a bowler with a medium speed. However, while he was playing for the Warriors, he was a fast bowler.

After Mickey Arthur, who would later become a coach in South Africa, proposed that Botha modify his bowling technique to off-break, Botha did so and continued to bowl in this manner for the remainder of his professional career. After he had completed the transition, he also concentrated on learning how to bowl a doosra, which is a ball that spins in the opposite way of a typical off-break. In the year that followed his transition to a different bowling technique, Botha went to Sri Lanka with South Africa A, which is South Africa’s second XI squad.

The fact that he was able to score runs and take important wickets helped to establish his reputation as a possible future test spinner for South Africa. Botha made his first appearance in a test match against Australia at the Sydney Cricket Ground in January 2006, during the tour that took place between 2005 and 2006. He took his maiden wicket in a test match, which was a batsman named Mike Hussey. He was, however, reported for tossing the ball at the end of the match, which was a violation of the rules. During the 2005–2006 VB Series, he was permitted to participate in several games; nevertheless, at the beginning of February, he was prohibited from bowling as a result of an analysis conducted by bowling specialist Bruce Elliott.

Johan Botha Biography

The International Cricket Council (ICC) inspected in August 2006 to allow him to resume bowling; however, the examination revealed that he continued to straighten his arm beyond the permissible 15 degrees. The International Cricket Council gave its approval to Botha’s move on November 21, 2006, and as a result, he began to be eligible for selection by the South African national team once again. One more time, on April 14, 2009, Botha was reported for what was believed to be unlawful behavior.

Immediately after the conclusion of the fourth one-day international match against Australia in Port Elizabeth, the match authorities expressed their worry about two aspects of Botha’s repertoire: his faster ball and his doosra. Graeme Smith announced on the 20th of August, 2010, that he would be relinquishing his position as captain of Twenty20 Internationals, although he would continue to participate in the format. After that, Cricket South Africa gave his deputy, Botha, the responsibility of making captaincy decisions.

Botha also assumed the role of captain of the One-Day International team when Smith stepped down from his position as captain of the ODI team after the 2011 Cricket World Cup. The fact that Botha had guided South Africa to a series victory against Australia earlier in 2010 when Smith was unavailable due to injury, was the significant element that ultimately decided the outcome. During the 2017 and 2020 seasons of the Pakistan Super League, respectively, Botha served as the fielding coach for the Islamabad United and Karachi Kings teams. When it comes to the Multan Sultans, he has served as both the Assistant Coach and the Head Coach for the 2018 and 2019 seasons, respectively.

His appointment as the Head Coach of Islamabad United for the 2021 season of the Pakistan Super League took place in the year 2020. Since the year 2018, he has also been serving as the Head Coach of the Guyana Amazon Warriors, who compete in the Caribbean Premier League. In the first season of the Seattle Orcas, which took place in 2023, he served as the bowling coach for the team. The appointment of him as the new head coach of the Brisbane Heat and the Queensland cricket team for the next three years took place in May of 2024.

Batting & Fielding Stats

Bowling

In the next three years, Johan Botha, a former captain of South Africa’s limited-overs team, will serve as the new head coach of the Brisbane Heat, the current winners of the Big Bash League, as well as Queensland in state cricket. Wade Seccombe resigned, which led to the appointment of Botha, who is 42 years old. In the past, he has served as a head coach in the CPL, ILT20, and the Pakistan Super League. The women’s coach for the Queensland Women’s National Cricket League and the Brisbane Heat, Ashley Noffke, and Adam Hollioake, a former all-rounder for England, were both considered for the position.

In a statement that he made on Tuesday in Brisbane, after his hiring, Botha said that he already had a few ties with players from both the Queensland and Heat teams. During his career, he had played against a significant number of players, but he had also played with Michael Neser at Adelaide Strikers and coached Colin Munro in the Premier Soccer League. The fact that he had the opportunity to teach Usman Khawaja at Islamabad United would, according to him, give the players the impression that his coaching style is distinct from the way he played the game himself.