David Wiese

David Wiese is a former all-rounder born on May 18, 1985, in Roodepoort, South Africa. He was a right-handed batter and bowled right-arm at a medium-fast pace. He has represented South Africa and Namibia in international cricket. The 39-year-old former all-rounder has been a vital player for various franchise teams across domestic T20 leagues.

Wiese broke into the scene by playing for the Proteas but gained superlative status by moving to Namibia, his ancestral nation. Thanks to his three-dimensional asset, he has been a dominant force within the shortest format of the game. The South African-born Namibian all-rounder hung up his boots from international cricket, after Namibia’s group stage exit in the ICC T20 World Cup 2024, to pave the way for the generation next.

David Wiese: Along the Years

David Wiese Records

• Fifteenth cricketer to play for two different nations in ODIs

• First-ever Namibian to bag an IPL contract

• First-ever Namibian to play in the IPL

• Fourth-oldest player to win the ‘Player of the Match’ award in ICC T20 World Cups

David Wiese Career

David Wiese had a successful career thanks to his all-rounding abilities. Despite announcing his international retirement in June 2024, the 39-year-old veteran still has some fuel left in the tank for franchise cricket.

David Wiese Domestic Career

At the age of 20, David Wiese made his domestic debut for Easterns against Northerns in the SAA Provincial Challenge 2005-06 season in Benoni on October 06, 2005. He had a forgettable first-class (FC) debut, as he was dismissed for a duck in the first innings and went wicketless with the ball in the second innings. The Easterns lost by a comfortable margin of 8 wickets. 

A few days later, Wiese made his List-A debut for Easterns against the same opponents in the SAA Provincial Cup 2005-06 season in Benoni on October 09, 2005. With the ball, he was economical and picked up the wicket of Gerald Dros. He added some valuable runs with the bat in the second innings, by scoring 45 runs before being run out by Northerns’ skipper Pierre Joubert. 

In the Standard Bank Pro20 Series 2007-08, the all-rounder made his T20 debut for Titans against Warriors in Benoni on March 28, 2008. He was unbeaten on 4 but did not get an opportunity to bowl in the game. He represented the Titans in the now-defunct Champions League T20 across two seasons. He was a regular member of Sussex in the T20 Blast across seasons and has contributed with his all-round abilities. He took his first and only T20 Blast fifer against Essex in the T20 Blast 2018, returning with figures of 5/24. 

Wiese registered his career-best T20 Blast score of an unbeaten 79 off just 46 balls against Middlesex in the Blast 2020. He moved to Yorkshire ahead of the T20 Blast 2023. He scored a half-century in that season and took 11 wickets in 11 innings. 

The all-rounder has scored two half-centuries in The Hundred for the Northern Superchargers. In the Pakistan Super League (PSL), the Lahore Qalandars roped in Wiese in the 2018-19 season, after having played for the Karachi Kings in the previous season. He has taken 38 wickets in 53 games for the Qalandars, to go with 629 runs in as many matches so far. 

Post his international retirement, the 39-year-old is enjoying life at the Caribbean Premier League (CPL) 2024. He has been donning the jersey of the St. Lucia Kings since CPL 2021. Wiese registered his best figures of 5/25 against Barbados Royals in his first season with the Kings. 

David Wiese IPL Career

A maiden T20I five-wicket haul against the West Indies in early 2015 saw David Wiese up for grabs in the Indian Premier League (IPL) auction 2015. The Royal Challengers Bangalore (now Royal Challengers Bengaluru) signed the then-South African all-rounder for a lucrative deal of INR 2.8 crores. 

He made his IPL debut against eventual champions Mumbai Indians (MI) in IPL 2015. In his very first outing, Wiese impressed everyone with the ball in the usually batting-friendly deck of RCB’s home ground M. Chinnaswamy Stadium. He picked up a four-wicket haul and scored an unbeaten 47 off just 25 balls, his personal IPL best as well, at a massive strike rate of 188. Wiese’s all-round showpiece went in vain, as MI won the match by 18 runs. 

Wiese played a solitary game in IPL 2016, where the Royal Challengers finished as runners-up for the third time in IPL history. After a six-year hiatus, the all-rounder returned to the IPL folklore, as a Namibian cricketer this time. He became the first Namibian to land an IPL contract when the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) offered a deal worth INR 1 crore at the IPL 2023 auction. Wiese also became the first-ever Namibian to play an IPL match, when he made his debut for the Knight Riders against the Chennai Super Kings (CSK). He featured in three matches in the season, but could not get going. He was eventually released by KKR ahead of the 2024 IPL auction. 

David Wiese International Career

David Wiese has one of the rare distinctions of representing two nations in international cricket. He emerged as one of the habitual pace-bowling all-rounders from the South African forum. Landing a three-year Kolpak contract with Sussex meant that Wiese neglected a potential representation of the Proteas. 

After a five-year absence from international cricket, Wiese returned to play for his ancestral nation Namibia since he became eligible to play for the neighboring country, as his father was born there. After creating a brief yet roundabout career in Namibian colors, Wiese announced his retirement from international cricket in 2024. 

David Wiese ODI Career

David Wiese debuted in ODIs for South Africa against New Zealand in the first ODI of New Zealand’s tour of South Africa in Centurion on August 19, 2015. In the first innings, he managed to score a quick cameo of 14 runs, which included two sixes as well, before being run out by Mitchell McClenaghan off the last delivery of the innings. Though he was expensive with the ball, Wiese managed to pick up a couple of wickets in the form of Martin Guptill and Jimmy Neesham.  

In March 2022, Wiese was called up to represent Namibia in an ODI Tri-series involving the United Arab Emirates, Oman, and Namibia. He achieved the distinct record of becoming the fifteenth cricketer to represent two nations in international cricket in ODIs when he made his ODI debut for Namibia against Oman on March 6, 2022. However, he had a forgettable outing with the bat, as he was dismissed for a golden duck by Bilal Khan. 

Wiese's last ODI game came against Nepal on July 16, 2022. He managed to score 34 off 50 balls, but could not add any wickets to his tally. The all-rounder finished his ODI career by playing 15 matches, scoring 330 runs with the bat at an average of 25.38 and a strike rate of 89.43. He has a half-century to his name, where he registered a personal best of 67 runs. With the ball, Wiese took 15 wickets in as many games at an average of 45.73 and an economy of 5.58. He registered his best figures of 3/50. 

David Wiese T20I Career

Under the captaincy of Faf du Plessis, David Wiese was handed over his maiden international cap. He donned the South African jersey in a T20I in Colombo in the first T20I of South Africa’s tour of Sri Lanka on August 2, 2013. On his T20I debut, he was not out on 3 and bowled a solitary over by conceding 8 runs. 

In the subsequent T20I, Wiese grabbed his maiden international wicket in the form of Sri Lankan all-rounder Angelo Mathews. Wiese was called up to play in the ICC World T20 2016 held in India. He scored a slow-paced 28 off 26 deliveries and picked up the wicket of Johnson Charles against the West Indies. 

In 2021, the former South African all-rounder became eligible to play for Namibia on ancestral grounds. He featured in the ICC T20 World Cup 2021 held in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Oman. Wiese was instrumental in Namibia registering their maiden victory at the T20 World Cup against the Netherlands. He scored an unbeaten 66 off 40 balls to boost Namibia’s chances of playing the Super 12s. It was also Namibia’s highest successful run chase at that time in a T20I. Wiese continued his match-winning momentum against Ireland. His all-round prowess ensured that Namibia reached the Super 12s in their maiden T20 WC campaign and also secured a spot in the subsequent T20 World Cup in 2022. In the match against Pakistan, Wiese took the prized wicket of skipper Babar Azam and scored an unbeaten 43 off 31 balls. Nonetheless, his all-round efforts went in vain with no proper support from the other end. 

Wiese went on to feature in the ICC T20 World Cup 2022 held in Australia. He scored a half-century against UAE, but unfortunately, Namibia missed out on a spot in the second round. A 20-team event at the ICC T20 World Cup 2024 held in the Caribbean and the United States of America saw Namibia being slotted in Group B. 

Wiese was once again the savior of the Eagles who stole a victory from the jaws of defeat, after sitting in a comfortable position in the first innings. He grabbed a three-wicket haul in the first innings to bowl out Oman for a total of 109. However, the slow pitches of the Caribbean islands made things difficult for the chasing team. Wiese just could not take Namibia past the line in an amazing final over bowled by Mehran Khan. He had to settle for a tie at the end of the second innings. With a Super Over at stake, the 39-year-old all-rounder unleashed his wide-ranging capacity in the Super Over.

Veteran Omani bowler Bilal Khan was greeted with both hands by Wiese, who capitalized on the loose deliveries bowled in the Super Over. He also ensured that Oman did not get past the line by bowling the Super Over. Undoubtedly, Wiese was declared the ‘Player Of The Match (POTM)’ for his match-winning effort and also became the fourth-oldest player to win a ‘POTM’ at the T20 WC. 

In what turned out to be his final international outing, Wiese picked up the wicket of opener Phil Salt and scored a quickfire came off 27 off just 12 balls in their final group stage game against defending champions England. The South African-born Namibian cricketer bid farewell to international cricket after their group stage exit, leaving a huge void to fill for Namibian cricket in the process.

David Wiese’s Family

Though David Wiese was born in Roodepoort, South Africa, his family originally hails from Namibia. The all-rounder became eligible to sport the Namibian jersey in 2021, based on his ancestry, with his father being born in Namibia.

David Wiese’s Cars

Cricket Namibia’s sponsor Pupkewitz Toyota gifted a Toyota Fortuner to David Wiese during the ICC T20 World Cup African Qualifiers in the capital city of Windhoek.