Few Test debutants can have been asked to play so many roles in such a short space of time as AB de Villiers, and fewer still can have risen to the challenge with such alacrity that, at the tender age of 21, he was already being regarded as the future of South African cricket. A product of Afrikaans Hoer Seunsskool in Pretoria, de Villiers was born to be a sportsman - although such was his natural talent, tennis, golf, cricket or rugby could have been his calling. Cricket won out, however, and after a prodigious spell in the South Africa Under-19 team, he made his debut for Titans in 2003-04, racking up five half-centuries in his 438 runs. He earned his call-up for the first Test against England the following season, and after a composed debut as an opening batsman, he was handed the wicketkeeping gloves for the second Test in Durban, which he helped save with a maiden Test half-century from No. 7. By the end of the series, however, he was back at the top of the order, and after falling eight runs short of a deserved century in the first innings at Centurion, he made instant amends second-time around.

His development continued at a rate of knots in the Caribbean, where he helped seal the series with a wonderful 178 at Bridgetown. On South Africa's tour of Australia at the end of 2005 he managed just 152 runs at 25.33 - despite playing Shane Warne well - and was sent home ahead of the tri-nation VB Series. When South Africa hosted Australia for a return series, de Villiers managed only one good Test, hitting 50 and 46 at Durban, and overall failed to showcase his undoubted talent. However, he was South Africa's highest run-scorer in a 2-0 loss to Sri Lanka in July-August with 217, including two impressive fifties.

The 2006-7 South African season was a mixed bag, but his fielding, breathtaking, and his speed in the field, top-class, are two of his biggest assets even though he has failed to convince as a Test opener. He occasionally showed his best form during the 2007 World Cup, but South Africa needed him to kick on. He did just that, becoming the first South African to hit a double hundred (217*) against India.
Andrew Miller/Jamie Alter June 2008

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