Morné Morkel facts for kids
Morkel in 2009
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| Full name |
Morné Morkel
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| Born | 6 October 1984 Vereeniging, Transvaal, South Africa |
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| Height | 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Batting | Left-handed | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bowling | Right-arm fast | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Role | Bowler | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Relations |
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| International information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| National side |
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| Test debut (cap 300) | 26 December 2006 v India | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Last Test | 30 March 2018 v Australia | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ODI debut (cap 89) | 6 June 2007 v Asia XI | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Last ODI | 16 February 2018 v India | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ODI shirt no. | 65 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| T20I debut (cap 28) | 11 September 2007 v West Indies | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Last T20I | 15 September 2017 v Pakistan | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| T20I shirt no. | 65 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Domestic team information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Years | Team | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2003/04–2017/18 | Easterns | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2004/05–2017/18 | Titans | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2007 | Kent | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2008 | Yorkshire | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2009–2010 | Rajasthan Royals | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2011–2013 | Delhi Daredevils | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2014–2016 | Kolkata Knight Riders | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2016 | St Lucia Zouks | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2018–2020 | Surrey (squad no. 64) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2019 | Tshwane Spartans | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2019/20 | Perth Scorchers | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2020/21 | Brisbane Heat | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Career statistics | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Source: ESPNcricinfo, 19 August 2020
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Morné Morkel (born October 6, 1984) is a famous cricket coach and former player from South Africa. He played for the South Africa national cricket team from 2006 to 2018. Since August 2024, he has been the bowling coach for the India national cricket team. He also worked as a bowling coach for the Pakistan national cricket team in 2023. As a coach, he helped the Indian team win the 2025 ICC Champions Trophy.
Morkel played his first Test match in 2006. He played 86 Test matches for South Africa. In March 2018, he became the fifth bowler to take 300 Test wickets for his country. He also played in 117 One Day International (ODI) games and 44 Twenty20 International (T20I) matches. He made his debut in both these formats in 2007.
On February 26, 2018, Morné Morkel announced he would stop playing international cricket. His last international game was in March 2018 against Australia.
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Morné Morkel's Early Cricket Days
Morkel started his first-class cricket career at age 19. This was in 2003, playing for Easterns against the West Indies cricket team. In his first match, he bowled many "no-balls," which are illegal deliveries. However, he also scored 44 runs without being out. He took his first important wicket by getting Ramnaresh Sarwan out.
During the 2003–04 season, Morkel played three more matches for Easterns. He still had some trouble with no-balls. He took five wickets that season. Easterns won the SuperSport Series shield, which was a smaller competition.
Morné Morkel's International Cricket Career
Morkel performed very well in domestic games, taking six wickets in one match and scoring a century (100 runs). Because of this, he was chosen to play for a special "Rest of South Africa" team against India. He took four wickets in that game. Soon after, he made his Test debut for South Africa in December 2006 against India.
He played his first One Day International (ODI) game for an Africa XI team against an Asian team. He took 3 wickets in that match. In the next game, he and his brother Albie Morkel opened the bowling together. This was the first time in ODI history that two brothers started the bowling for their team.
Morkel was then picked for the first-ever Twenty20 World Championship in South Africa. He became one of the best players in the tournament. He bowled very fast and accurately. He took 9 wickets and had a great economy rate, which means he didn't give away many runs. In one match against New Zealand, he took 4 wickets for only 17 runs. He almost got a fifth wicket, but it was wrongly called a no-ball. Even though South Africa didn't win the tournament, Morkel's bowling was a big highlight. He was even named as the 12th player in the 'Team of the Tournament'.
In October 2012, cricket experts said that Morkel, along with Dale Steyn and Vernon Philander, formed the best fast-bowling attack South Africa had ever seen.
In August 2017, Morkel was chosen to play for a "World XI" team. This team played three Twenty20 International matches against Pakistan in Lahore.
During his last international series against Australia in 2018, Morkel reached a big milestone. He became the fifth bowler for South Africa to take 300 wickets in Test matches. South Africa won that series, which was their first home series win against Australia since 1969–70.
Morné Morkel's Domestic Cricket Career
Playing for Teams in South Africa
In the 2004–05 season, Morkel played more first-class matches. He took his first "five-wicket-haul," meaning he took five wickets in one innings. He also took nine wickets in another game. His bowling improved a lot, and he took 20 first-class wickets that season. He also bowled fewer no-balls.
In the 2006–07 season, Morkel joined the Titans. He helped his team win games and had a very good bowling average. This means he took wickets while giving away few runs.
In September 2019, he was chosen to play for the Tshwane Spartans team in the 2019 Mzansi Super League tournament.
Playing in England
Morkel also played cricket in England for Kent County Cricket Club. In 2008, he played for Yorkshire. However, he got a hamstring injury in his first game for Yorkshire, which cut his time there short. He only played one County Championship game for them.
After he stopped playing international cricket, Morkel signed a two-year contract with Surrey. But in November 2020, he left Surrey. He said it was too hard to be away from his family for long periods because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Playing in the Indian Premier League
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Morkel played for the Rajasthan Royals in the first three seasons of the Indian Premier League (IPL). In 2012, he played for Delhi Daredevils. He took 25 wickets in 16 matches, making him the top wicket-taker in the league that year. His last IPL team was the Kolkata Knight Riders in 2016.
Morné Morkel's Playing Style
Morkel was a right-arm fast bowler. This means he bowled the ball very quickly. He was also a useful left-handed batsman who could score runs lower down the batting order. Former South African bowler Allan Donald said that Morkel had "genuine pace," meaning he was truly very fast.
Morné Morkel's Coaching Career
Morné Morkel became the bowling coach for the Indian men’s cricket team on August 14, 2024. His job officially started on September 1, 2024. He joined the team when Gautam Gambhir became the head coach. Morkel's first big challenge as coach was the 2025 ICC Champions Trophy. Team India won their third title in that tournament with Morkel as their bowling coach.
Morné Morkel's Personal Life
Morkel comes from an Afrikaner family. He is the youngest of three children. In October 2013, he proposed to Roz Kelly, an Australian sports journalist. They got married in December 2014 and have two sons. His brother, Albie Morkel, also played international cricket for South Africa.
On November 6, 2020, Morkel became a permanent resident of Australia. This allowed him to play in the Big Bash League as a local player.
