Dirk Isaac de Villiers (20 July 1889 – 1 October 1958) was a South African rugby union international and first-class cricketer active in the 1910s and 1920s. He was a lawyer by profession.
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Dirk Isaac de Villiers | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | 20 July 1889 Wellington, Cape Province, South Africa | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Died | 1 October 1958 (aged 69) Cape Town, Cape Province, South Africa | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Domestic team information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Years | Team | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1912–1913 | Western Province | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1920–1925 | Orange Free State | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Career statistics | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Source: CricketArchive | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Biography
editBorn into a musical family in Wellington, de Villiers is the son of music institute founders Dirk and Tina de Villiers. His elder brother, the Reverend Marthinus Lourens de Villiers, composed Die Stem van Suid-Afrika, which used to be the national anthem of South Africa. Dirkie himself was said to be an accomplished violinist.[1]
A Cambridge-educated lawyer, de Villiers gained blues in rugby and was capped in three Test matches for the Springboks as a centre in the 1910 British Lions tour, scoring a try on debut.[2] As a cricketer, de Villiers was an all-rounder and played at first-class level for Western Province and Orange Free State, the latter after the war. His best score of 200 not out, against Border in the 1923/24 season, was a then record for Orange Free State.[1]
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ a b Green, Michael (2004). Around and about: Memoirs of a South African Newspaperman. New Africa Books. p. 58. ISBN 9780864866608.
- ^ Schoeman, Chris; McLennan, David (15 August 2021). Lions in Africa: The British & Irish Lions and the Hunt for the Springboks. Amberley Publishing. ISBN 1398108294.
External links
edit- Dirkie de Villiers at ESPNcricinfo
- Dirkie de Villiers at ESPNscrum