Johannes Albertus Morkel (born 10 June 1981 in Vereeniging, Transvaal), usually referred to as just Albie Morkel, is a South African cricketer. He is an all-rounder who bowls right-arm-fast-medium and bats left-handed. He is famous for his six hitting abilities in Twenty20 cricket. Albie has a brother, Morne Morkel, who also plays international cricket for South Africa while his father played provincial cricket in South Africa.
| Personal information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Batting | Left-handed | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bowling | Right–arm medium fast | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Role | All-rounder | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Relations | M Morkel | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| International information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| National side | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ODI debut | 20 February 2004 v New Zealand | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Last ODI | 29 August 2008 v England | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Career statistics | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Source: CricketArchive, 18 October 2008 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Career
First Class
His bowling was quite impressive in his first seasons in first class cricket, as he burst onto the scene with six for 36 for Easterns against Griqualand West, but in the 2004/05 season he was expected to take more of the bowling effort for the Titans, but only took 20 wickets at a bowling average of 40.65. However, that coincided with an improvement in his batting, as he made his first double century of his career, with 204 not out against Western Province Boland.
During the 2008 Summer season Albie Morkel played for Durham County Cricket Club in the North East of England along with fellow South African Shaun Pollock mainly in the Twenty20 Cup competition.
International
His statistics on his international debut tour to New Zealand were not very impressive, as he got two wickets at the cost of 48 runs apiece, but he did get five wickets quite cheaply on Zimbabwe's tour of South Africa in the summer of runs an over. Nevertheless, Morkel was picked for the Africa squad to play Asia in the 2005 Afro-Asian Cup, but withdrew due to injury. He appeared however for Africa the following series, in 2007, and made history in the second game when he opened the bowling with his brother Morne, the first time two brothers have done so in ODI cricket.
Albie has been more successful in the Twenty20 format of the game. He made his Twenty20 debut against New Zealand in October 2005. He was a prominent member of the South African team in the inaugural ICC World Twenty20 in 2007 held in South Africa where he made several important contributions with the bat including a man-of-the-match performance against England in Cape Town.
Indian Premier League
Albie Morkel played for the Chennai Super Kings in the inaugral season of the Indian Premier League where he had a very successful tournament as an all-rounder scoring 241 runs and taking 17 wickets.