South Africa, Durham, Gauteng, Lions,Northerns, Transvaal
Batting style:
Right-hand bat
Bowling style:
Right-arm medium
Education:
King Edward VII, RAU
Relation:
Father - KA McKenzie
Favourite Movie:
Forest Gump
Favourite Pass-Time:
Beach Holiday with Fam and Friends
Favourite Cricket Memory:
Winning Away series' against Australia and England
Favourite Food:
Ostrich Fillets and Salad
Favourite Quote / Saying: A Hungry Dog Hunts Best
Cricket Mentor / Idol:
Every Homeless Talk seller not doing crime
Profile
Popular, mildly eccentric and unassuming, Neil McKenzie was a stalwart in South Africa's middle-order for four years in the early 2000s, despite a less-than-promising start as an opening batsman in Sri Lanka in 2000. From good cricketing stock - father Kevin was a carefree middle-order batsman who represented South Africa during the rebel era - Neil captained both the South African Schools and Under-19 teams before falling under the influence of former New Zealand captain Ken Rutherford at Gauteng. He made his maiden Test and ODI centuries against New Zealand and Sri Lanka respectively during the summer of 2000-01 and was able to take advantage of the confusion over the roles of Daryll Cullinan and Jonty Rhodes to establish himself as a more-or-less permanent fixture in both teams. Questions were asked of his ability to cope with the very best spinners, but not enough to warrant his three-and-a-half year exile from the side from March 2004, at a time when he ought to have been at the height of his career. He was eventually recalled to face West Indies at Cape Town in January 2008. Neat and economical at the crease, McKenzie is particularly strong on the leg side. On the tour of Bangladesh which followed, he was involved in a world record opening stand of 415 with his captain Graeme Smith. Prior to South Africa's tour of England, he signed for Durham for the early part of the 2008 season.
Peter Robinson and Cricinfo staff June 2008 – www.cricinfo.com
Batting and fielding averages
Mat
Inns
NO
Runs
HS
Ave
BF
SR
100
50
4s
6s
Ct
St
Tests
58
94
7
3253
226
37.39
7744
42.00
5
16
409
22
54
0
PDIs
64
55
10
1688
131*
37.51
2432
69.40
2
10
142
8
21
0
T20Is
2
1
1
7
7*
-
8
87.50
0
0
0
0
0
0
First-class
222
375
43
14575
226
43.90
38
71
196
0
List A
242
220
32
6772
131*
36.02
8
47
73
0
Twenty20
65
62
18
1561
89*
35.47
1278
122.14
0
11
165
28
24
0
Bowling averages
Mat
Inns
Balls
Runs
Wkts
BBI
BBM
Ave
Econ
SR
4w
5w
10
Tests
58
6
90
68
0
-
-
-
4.53
-
0
0
0
ODIs
64
5
46
27
0
-
-
-
3.52
-
0
0
0
T20Is
2
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
First-class
222
906
489
10
2/13
48.90
3.23
90.6
0
0
List A
242
255
248
4
2/19
2/19
62.00
5.83
63.7
0
0
0
Twenty20
65
4
24
34
1
1/4
1/4
34.00
8.50
24.0
0
0
0
Career statistics
Test debut
Sri Lanka v South Africa at Galle, Jul 20-23, 2000
ODI debut
South Africa v Zimbabwe at Durban, Feb 2, 2000
T20I debut
South Africa v Australia at Johannesburg, Feb 24, 2006
