Test XI, by our ratings

Best South African Test XI

The pool is the 25 South African players in the Beat My 11 database with at least 50 Tests, across every era, with one all-rounder in the side. The XI has 2 openers, 3 middle-order batters, 1 wicketkeeper, 1 all-rounder, 1 spinner and 3 fast bowlers, picked by our ratings: the highest-rated players at each position, in whichever of the three XI shapes in the game rates best as a team.

All eleven players are from South Africa.

Career Test totals from the Beat My 11 database, as of 22 October 2026.

The XI, in batting order

#	Player	Position	Nation	Played in	Career Test stats
1	Graeme Smith	opener	South Africa	2000s, 2010s	117 Tests; 9,265 runs at 48.3, 27 hundreds
2	Gary Kirsten	opener	South Africa	1990s, 2000s	101 Tests; 7,289 runs at 45.3, 21 hundreds
3	Hashim Amla	middle-order batter	South Africa	2000s, 2010s	124 Tests; 9,282 runs at 46.6, 28 hundreds
4	AB de Villiers	middle-order batter	South Africa	2000s, 2010s	114 Tests; 8,765 runs at 50.66, 22 hundreds
5	Daryll Cullinan	middle-order batter	South Africa	1990s	70 Tests; 4,554 runs at 44.2, 14 hundreds
6	Mark Boucher	wicketkeeper	South Africa	2000s	147 Tests; 5,515 runs at 30.3, 5 hundreds; 557 dismissals
7	Jacques Kallis	all-rounder	South Africa	Legends, 1990s, 2000s, 2010s	166 Tests; 13,289 runs at 55.4, 45 hundreds; 292 wickets at 32.6, 5 five-wicket hauls
8	Keshav Maharaj	spinner	South Africa	2010s, 2020s	62 Tests; 218 wickets at 29.2, 12 five-wicket hauls
9	Dale Steyn	fast bowler	South Africa	Legends, 2000s, 2010s	93 Tests; 439 wickets at 22.9, 26 five-wicket hauls
10	Allan Donald	fast bowler	South Africa	1990s	72 Tests; 330 wickets at 22.2, 20 five-wicket hauls
11	Kagiso Rabada	fast bowler	South Africa	2010s, 2020s	73 Tests; 340 wickets at 22, 17 five-wicket hauls

Next in line

Player	Position	Nation	Career Test stats
Herschelle Gibbs	opener	South Africa	90 Tests; 6,167 runs at 42, 14 hundreds
Faf du Plessis	middle-order batter	South Africa	69 Tests; 4,163 runs at 40, 10 hundreds
Quinton de Kock	wicketkeeper	South Africa	54 Tests; 3,300 runs at 38.8, 6 hundreds; 233 dismissals
Shaun Pollock	fast bowler	South Africa	108 Tests; 421 wickets at 23.12, 16 five-wicket hauls

What stands out

Between them the eleven played 1,139 Tests. Jacques Kallis has the most (166) and Keshav Maharaj the fewest (62).
The best batting average in this XI is Jacques Kallis's 55.4, and the best bowling average is Kagiso Rabada's 22.
The deepest position is middle-order batter, with 9 to choose from for 3 places. The thinnest is all-rounder, with 1 for 1 place.
Left out: Herschelle Gibbs has the best batting average of anyone left out (42, 90 Tests, opener), and Vernon Philander the best bowling average (22.3, 64 Tests, fast bowler). An average is only part of a rating, which also counts how often a player takes wickets or scores hundreds, and how long he lasted.
Their Test careers run from 1992 (Allan Donald's debut year) to the present day.
2 of these eleven are also in the all-time XI: Jacques Kallis and Dale Steyn.

How this XI was picked

Pool by position: 5 openers, 9 middle-order batters, 2 wicketkeepers, 1 all-rounder, 1 spinner, 7 fast bowlers.

Our ratings use seven career measures. Openers, middle-order batters and wicketkeepers are rated on batting average, runs per player-match, century rate. Spinners and fast bowlers are rated on bowling average, wickets per bowler-match, five-wicket-haul rate, ten-wicket-match rate. All-rounders are rated on all seven. Every player is ranked against the whole database, and players with short careers are weighted toward the average so a hot streak cannot outrank a long career.

The XI takes the highest-rated players at each position, then uses whichever of the three XI shapes in the game rates best as a team. Ratings are not shown here: draft your own XI to see them.

Think you can pick a better XI? Draft yours across seven eras and see if it beats mine.

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