Johannes Kotze
{{Short description|South African cricketer (1879–1931)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2018}}
{{Infobox cricketer
| name = Johannes Kotze
| image = Johannes Kotze c1905.jpg
| caption = Kotze pictured in about 1905
| fullname = Johannes Jacobus Kotze
| nickname = Kodgee
| birth_date = 7 August 1879
| birth_place = Hopefield, Cape Colony
| death_date = 7 July 1931 (aged 51)
| death_place = Rondebosch, South Africa
| batting = Right-handed
| bowling = Right-arm fast
| club1 = Transvaal
| year1 = 1902-03
| club2 = Western Province
| year2 = {{nowrap|1903/04–1910/11}}
| columns = 2
| column1 = Test
| matches1 = 3
| runs1 = 2
| bat avg1 = 0.40
| 100s/50s1 = 0/0
| top score1 = 2
| deliveries1 = 413
| wickets1 = 6
| bowl avg1 = 40.50
| fivefor1 = 0
| tenfor1 = 0
| best bowling1 = 3/64
| catches/stumpings1= 3/–
| column2 = First-class
| matches2 = 72
| runs2 = 688
| bat avg2 = 8.59
| 100s/50s2 = 0/1
| top score2 = 60
| deliveries2 = 12,480
| wickets2 = 348
| bowl avg2 = 17.86
| fivefor2 = 30
| tenfor2 = 9
| best bowling2 = 8/18
| catches/stumpings2= 31/–
| international = true
| country = South Africa
| testdebutagainst = Australia
| testdebutdate = 18 October
| testdebutyear = 1902
| lasttestdate = 1 July
| lasttestagainst = England
| lasttestyear = 1907
| source = https://www.espncricinfo.com/cricketers/johannes-kotze-45833 Cricinfo
| date = 11 May
| year = 2025
}}
Johannes Jacobus "Kodgee" Kotze (7 August 1879 – 7 July 1931) was a cricketer from Cape Colony who played in three Test matches for South Africa from 1902 to 1907.{{cite web | url = https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Players/0/269/269.html| title = Johannes Kotze | publisher = cricketarchive.com |url-access=subscription | accessdate = 7 November 2017}}{{cite web | url = http://www.espncricinfo.com/ci/content/player/45833.html | title = Johannes Kotze | publisher = espncricinfo.com | accessdate = 7 November 2017}} He was considered one of the fastest bowlers of his time. He toured England with the South African teams in 1901, 1904 and 1907.Christopher Martin-Jenkins, The Complete Who's Who of Test Cricketers, Rigby, Adelaide, 1983, p. 292.
Cricket career
At his death in 1931, Wisden ranked Kotze as one of the half-dozen fastest bowlers there had ever been.{{cite web |title=Wisden – Obituaries in 1932 |url=https://www.espncricinfo.com/wisdenalmanack/content/story/228174.html |publisher=Cricinfo |access-date=11 May 2025}} He was able to maintain his speed for long spells, and could bowl as fast late in the day as at the start. He was a poor batsman and clumsy fielder, though, which may have told against him when the South African Test teams were selected. He was one of very few prominent Afrikaner cricketers of the period; he was the only Afrikaner in South Africa's 1901 tour of England, which took place during the Second Boer War.Albert Grundlingh, "From JJ 'Boerjong' Kotze to Hansie Cronje: Afrikaners and Cricket in Twentieth Century South Africa", The International Journal of the History of Sport, Volume 28, 2011, pp. 98–114.
Kotze had played no first-class cricket and was virtually unknown when he was a surprise selection to tour England with the South African team in 1901.[https://archive.acscricket.com/cricket/1901/80/index.html "Pavilion Gossip"], Cricket, 18 April 1901, p. 74. In the event, he was one of the four principal bowlers on the tour, taking 49 first-class wickets at an average of 24.79, including 7 for 31 and 3 for 51 in the victory over Nottinghamshire.[https://archive.acscricket.com/cricket/1901/376/index.html "The South African Team"], Cricket, 22 August 1901, p. 368.{{cite web |title=Nottinghamshire v South Africans 1901 |url=https://static.espncricinfo.com/db/ARCHIVE/1900S/1901/RSA_IN_ENG/RSA_NOTTS_11-13JUL1901.html |publisher=Cricinfo |access-date=11 May 2025}} No Test matches were played during the tour.
When the Australian team made a short tour of South Africa in 1902–03, Kotze played in two of the three Tests, taking six wickets. His first two wickets were those of Victor Trumper and Clem Hill.{{cite web |title=South Africa vs Australia, 2nd Test at Johannesburg, Oct 18 1902 |url=https://www.espncricinfo.com/series/australia-tour-of-south-africa-1902-03-61370/south-africa-vs-australia-2nd-test-62471/full-scorecard |publisher=Cricinfo |access-date=11 May 2025}} Later that season, playing for Transvaal against Griqualand West in the Currie Cup, he took 8 for 18 and 3 for 19; all but one of his victims were bowled.{{cite web |title=Transvaal v Griqualand West 1902–03 |url=https://static.espncricinfo.com/db/ARCHIVE/1900S/1902-03/RSA_LOCAL/CSC/TVL_GRIQ-W_CSC_06-07APR1903.html |publisher=Cricinfo |access-date=11 May 2025}} In this match he took the first hat-trick in South African first-class cricket.Rowland Bowen, Cricket: A History of Its Growth and Development Throughout the World, Eyre & Spottiswoode, London, 1970, p. 313. Transvaal won the Currie Cup that season, and Kotze was the leading bowler in the competition, with 34 wickets at an average of 7.29.{{cite web |title=Bowling in Currie Cup 1902/03 |url=https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Events/2/Currie_Cup_1902-03/Bowling_by_Average.html |publisher=CricketArchive |access-date=18 May 2025}}
In 1903–04, Kotze played for Western Province in the Currie Cup. He took 11 wickets in the final, but Transvaal won, taking the title again.{{cite web |title=Transvaal v Western Province 1903-04 |url=https://static.espncricinfo.com/db/ARCHIVE/1900S/1903-04/RSA_LOCAL/CSC/TVL_WPR_CSC_26-29MAR1904.html |publisher=Cricinfo |access-date=18 May 2025}} On the tour of England in 1904, Kotze was the leading wicket-taker, and one of the leading bowlers of the English season, with 121 wickets at an average of 19.85.{{cite web |title=First-class Bowling in England for 1904 |url=https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Seasons/Seasonal_Averages/ENG/1904_f_Bowling_by_Average.html |publisher=CricketArchive |access-date=18 May 2025}} Again no Tests were played during the tour, but in two matches against MCC at Lord's, Kotze took 10 wickets at low cost, eight of them bowled.{{cite web |title=MCC v South Africans 1904 (I) |url=https://static.espncricinfo.com/db/ARCHIVE/1900S/1904/RSA_IN_ENG/RSA_MCC_30MAY-01JUN1904.html |publisher=Cricinfo |access-date=18 May 2025}}{{cite web |title=MCC v South Africans 1904 (II) |url=https://static.espncricinfo.com/db/ARCHIVE/1900S/1904/RSA_IN_ENG/RSA_MCC_11-13AUG1904.html|publisher=Cricinfo |access-date=18 May 2025}}
References
{{Commons category|Johannes Kotze}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Kotze, Johannes}}
Category:South Africa Test cricketers
Category:Cape Colony cricketers
Category:Western Province cricketers