48 Facts About Daryll Cullinan

Daryll John Cullinan was born on 4 March 1967 and is a former South African first-class cricketer who played Test cricket and One Day Internationals for South Africa as a specialist batsman.

Daryll Cullinan was regarded as the most gifted batsman of his generation as he was equally adept against pace or spin.

Daryll Cullinan ended up playing 70 tests and 138 ODIs for South Africa.

Daryll Cullinan was a member of the South Africa team that won the 1998 ICC KnockOut Trophy, the only ICC trophy the country has won to date.

Daryll Cullinan occasionally gives his insight about the sport through various platforms and calls himself a huge supporter of T20 cricket.

Daryll Cullinan was a vocal advocate for the inclusion of more associate nations in ICC tournaments especially in T20 format when he specifically made the point during the 2012 ICC World Twenty20.

Daryll Cullinan was embroiled in numerous controversies during the latter part of his career including the fallout with the team-mates, fallout with the cricket board for his involvement in the Indian Cricket League.

Daryll Cullinan grew up in Queenstown and pursued his primary education at the Queen's College Boys' High School.

Daryll Cullinan started watching the sport of squash from a young age but his father discouraged it by saying you will not make a living out of playing squash but his father recommended him to stick to cricket.

Daryll Cullinan grew up in apartheid hit South Africa especially when South Africa faced a shortage of cricket matches due to political constraints.

Daryll Cullinan idolised Graeme Pollock while growing up and calling him a true star.

Daryll Cullinan became the youngest South African to score a first-class century, at the age of 16 years and 304 days in 1985.

Daryll Cullinan emerged as a child prodigy and was dubbed by many in cricketing fraternity as the next best thing for South African cricket.

Daryll Cullinan revealed that his initial ambition is to play country cricket because of the ban on South African cricket which led to lack of exposure.

Daryll Cullinan achieved the highest first-class score in domestic South African cricket at the time, scoring 337 not out.

Daryll Cullinan was involved in an unusual stoppage when 'calamari stopped play'.

Daryll Cullinan pursued county cricket featuring for Derbyshire in 1995 and then for Kent in 2001.

Daryll Cullinan signed off from domestic first-class cricket with a first innings century in March 2005 and it turned out to be his final first-class match.

Daryll Cullinan made his test debut against India on 2 January 1993 at Cape Town and made 46 in the first innings following it up with a score of 28 in the second innings and ultimately the test ended in a draw.

Daryll Cullinan was in the center stage of South Africa's batting lineup ever since South Africa was readmitted to international cricket in the 1990s.

Daryll Cullinan was known for his ability to produce fine test innings under pressure situations at any conditions and he delivered in most of the occasions except for in Australian conditions.

Daryll Cullinan was part of the South African squad which reached quarter-finals of the 1996 Cricket World Cup.

Daryll Cullinan was the leading run-scorer of the tournament with 300 runs.

Daryll Cullinan was a member of the side which claimed the 1996 Pepsi Sharjah Cup which was played between South Africa, Pakistan and India.

Daryll Cullinan was a crucial key element to South Africa's triumph in the inaugural edition of the ICC KnockOut Trophy in 1998 where South Africa recorded their first ever ICC title win by defeating fancied West Indies in the final by chasing 246.

Daryll Cullinan opened the batting throughout the tournament despite having played primarily in the position of number 4 or lower in previous occasions.

Daryll Cullinan spent 658 or 659 minutes nearly 11 hours in the crease during his marathon knock and surpassed the record of Graeme Pollock for the then highest ever individual score by a batsman for South Africa in test cricket.

Daryll Cullinan's record stood for a long time but was later shattered by Hashim Amla who scored 311* against England in 2013.

Daryll Cullinan was part of the infamous 1999 Cricket World Cup campaign where South Africa choked in the crucial moment of their World Cup semi-final against Australia as South Africa were bowled out for 213 resulting in a tie and as a result narrowly losing their way to reach the final on the back of an inferior net run rate.

Daryll Cullinan was adjudged the player of the series for his contributions with the bat throughout the series scoring 386 runs but the series was overshadowed and marred by Hansie Cronje's decision to forfeit a test innings in the fifth and final test to ensure a result rather than a draw.

Daryll Cullinan further demonstrated his batting prowess in the first test of the Sri Lankan tour at spin friendly turning tracks in Galle International Stadium in 2000 where he went onto score a career defining century and managed to counter the threat of spin wizard Muttiah Muralitharan during the knock.

Daryll Cullinan was part of the South African side which clinched the 2000 Singapore Challenge which was played as a tri-nation tournament among South Africa, New Zealand and Pakistan.

Daryll Cullinan attempted to opt out of ODI cricket at the end of the 2001 season but he was thrown under the bus by Cricket South Africa as undue pressure was inserted on him to sign a new two-year contract.

Daryll Cullinan recovered from a knee injury which he sustained prior to the series but he was not included in the playing XI for the first test.

Daryll Cullinan was however drafted into the team for the second test replacing Boeta Dippenaar.

Daryll Cullinan dropped a bombshell by suddenly pulling out from the squad withdrawing himself just hours before the eve of the second test match at Cape Town in an unceremonious way and flew to Johannesburg immediately.

The board clarified that it couldn't meet the set expectations and certain demands made by Daryll Cullinan which led to contractual dispute.

Daryll Cullinan later issued a public apology regarding the lasy minute withdrawal from the Australia series.

Daryll Cullinan scored only 153 runs averaging 12.75 in seven test matches against Australia, falling to Shane Warne on four occasions.

Sources such as the Herald Sun quote Daryll Cullinan as being Shane Warne's bunny.

Daryll Cullinan was appointed as the coach of the Kolkata Tigers in the Indian Cricket League.

Daryll Cullinan served as a consultant to Namibian team at the 2012 ICC World Twenty20 Qualifiers where Namibia registered three victories including a famous win over giant-killers Ireland in their opening fixture.

Daryll Cullinan was named as South Africa Cricket's Annual Cricketer of the Year three times in 1989,1996 and 1999.

However, Daryll Cullinan himself clarified the issue and denied the allegations made by his former team-mate Gibbs.

Daryll Cullinan involved in an heated confrontation with HD Ackerman during the eve of the domestic match between Titans and Lions in 2005 and as a result he was banned for one match.

In November 2013, Daryll Cullinan was sequestrated for failing to pay back Azrapix Investments CC R19300.

The Randburg Magistrate Court urged Daryll Cullinan to pay all his arrears within the next two years.

Daryll Cullinan was given options of one year imprisonment or to pay compensation of R3000.