Marchant de Lange, the former South African pace bowler, holds the record for the fastest first-class century for the Welsh county having made a 62-ball hundred for Glamorgan against Northamptonshire at Wantage Road.

He had joined Glamorgan during 2017 and during his debut season he appeared on a regular basis in the Welsh county’s team in both formats of the game. His fast, full length deliveries helped to secure several victories, especially the T20 game against Somerset at Taunton, where he delivered a nerveless final spell as Glamorgan won a nail-biting contest by just one run.

Born in Limpopo during October 1990, Marchant  was a talented schoolboy athlete, especially with the javelin, and these experiences were successfully transferred into his bowling skills, with Marchant being able to extract pace and bounce from a short run-up. In 2010/11 he made his first-class debut for Easterns, and after attending the National Academy, Marchant played the following season for the South African A side against Australia.

Following a series of impressive performances for Easterns, Marchant was drafted into the South Africa team in December 2011 when Vernon Philander was injured for the Boxing Day Test against Sri Lanka at Durban. He duly claimed figures of 7/81 on his Test debut, but loss of form and a series of injuries meant that he only played in one further Test.

These injuries meant that Marchant remodelled his action and became a fine “death bowler” in one-day cricket. These skills in the closing overs of domestic Twenty20 matches in South Africa saw Marchant secure contracts in the Indian Premier League, the Caribbean Premier League and in the 10-over competition in the United Arab Emirates, in addition to six appearances in International T20s for South Africa.

A thigh injury in 2018 restricted Marchant to just 3 Championship appearances, the last of which saw the tall right-handed batsman strike an astonishing 90 from just 45 with 8 massive sixes against Leicestershire at Grace Road, before holing out at long-on attempting a ninth maximum as the home side won a remarkable game by three wickets. Marchant returned to fitness for 2019 and played in both red and white ball cricket, claiming a total of 55 wickets in all formats.

Ironically, Marchant’s record-breaking century at Northampton in 2020 was his last first-class innings for the Welsh county as the season saw the end to the Kolpak system and the spousal visa’s which had allowed Marchant to play for the Welsh county as a local player. He will play for Somerset as an overseas player in 2021 having been released from his Glamorgan contract by mutual consent with a year remaining.

DE LANGE, Marchant  

Born – Limpopo, 13th October 1990

Best performances for Glamorgan:

In first-class cricket – 113 v Northamptonshire at Northampton, 2020; 5/62 v Gloucestershire at Bristol, 2018.     

In List A cricket – 58* v Gloucestershire at Sophia Gardens, 2019; 5/49 v Hampshire at The Ageas Bowl, 2017.     

In T20 cricket – 28* v Somerset at Taunton, 2020; 4/26 v Surrey at The Oval, 2019.

	M	I	NO	RUNS	AV	100	50	CT	ST
First-class	25	37	4	654	19.82	1	2	10	–
List A	19	18	6	298	24.83	–	1	7	–
T20	33	15	4	123	11.18	–	–	11	–

	Balls	M	R	W	AV	5wI	10wM
First-class	4719	119	2866	85	33.72	2	–
List A	973	7	1047	39	26.84	1	–
T20	605	0	854	36	23.72	–	–