Nine sets of brothers have played for South Africa since the country's first Test in 1889. Should twins Marco and Duan do so in the coming season, they will join an illustrious list of fraternal cricketers to have represented the nation at international level.
Marco is already established in the Proteas setup, having played for the green and gold since 2021, while older brother Duan is expected to make his international debut in the T20I tri-series against Namibia and Zimbabwe. Although they play a similar style of cricket and fulfil a similar role, it is not beyond the realms of possibility that the duo eventually play together.
It won’t happen in the ongoing tri-series, nor in the ODI series against Namibia thereafter. If one is being realistic, Duan will arguably not play against Australia in late September, whereas Marco certainly will, injuries permitting. Perhaps their first opportunity will present itself against Bangladesh in November.
Here, we look at the ennead of brothers who have previously represented the nation at international level in cricket across all formats.
The Snookes
Historically, the first brothers to play together for South Africa were Stanley and Sibley "Tip" Snooke. They played together in one Test — which was Stanley’s only international game — in the third Test against England at Kensington Oval in August 1907. The elder Stanley was bowled for a duck in the first innings and did not bat in the second.
Tip had a much better match — which was eventually drawn — scoring 99 runs and claiming one wicket. All-rounder Tip went on to have an illustrious career for South Africa, playing in 26 Tests in total and captaining the country to a Test series win over England in 1909/10. He retired from Test cricket aged 41 after playing in a series against England in 1922/23.
The Taylors
The legendary captain Herbie Taylor, the first South African to surpass 2 500 Test runs, played two international matches with his brother Dan in 1913/14, both against England. The latter scored 36 runs in each innings during his debut, but was less successful in his second outing. Herbie, meanwhile, finished the five-match Test series as the leading run-scorer with 508 runs.
The Hands
Also during that series, Reginald and Philip Hands played together at St George’s Park in Gqeberha. Philip had the better outing of the two, scoring 132 runs over his two innings, while Reginald was bowled out for a duck in his first innings and then scored one run in his second.
South Africa suffered a heavy defeat in that match, with the visitors romping home to a 10-wicket victory.
The Rowans
Eric Rowan started his Test career in 1935, but had to wait until after the conclusion of World War II to play with his brother Athol at international level.
Eric was said to be a figure who demanded respect while railing against authority, often opening the batting without gloves or a box for protection. He holds two Test records: the highest score by a batsman without hitting a boundary (67*) and the oldest Test cricketer to score a double century, aged 42 years and six days.
Athol, meanwhile, bowled right-arm off-breaks and played 15 matches for South Africa starting in 1947, taking 54 wickets during that time.
The Pollocks
Arguably the most famous and greatest set of brothers to play together for South Africa were Peter and Graeme Pollock, who represented South Africa from 1961 to 1970.
Graeme is still considered one of the best batters ever. His average of 60.97 remains the third highest in history, behind only Sir Don Bradman and Adam Voges. At 26-years old, his career was curtailed by the sporting boycott on South Africa due to Apartheid, but by then he had already scored over 2 200 runs in 23 matches. Older brother Peter, father of Proteas legend Shaun Pollock, was a useful lower-order batsman who shone as a fast bowler, taking 116 wickets in 28 Tests.
Arguably their finest moment together came in the first Test at Trent Bridge in England in 1965. Graeme produced a brilliant first innings of 125 runs, following it up with a half-century in his second. Peter, meanwhile, finished with match figures of 10/87, guiding South Africa to a 94-run victory and an eventual series win.
They Pitheys
Another set of brothers active during this period were the Pitheys — David and Tony. They played together during the 1963/64 tour of Australia, with South Africa drawing the five-match series 1-1. Tony struck two half-centuries during the tour and came desperately close to scoring a third. David, meanwhile, was less successful with bat and ball.
The Kirstens
After returning to international sport in 1992, the Proteas fielded three more brother duos, the first of which was Peter and Gary Kirsten. The half-brothers are recorded as having played 16 international matches — seven Tests and nine ODIs — in a one year period between late 1993 and 1994 against Australia, England and New Zealand.
Peter, 12 years Gary's senior, was touching 40 by that season and wrapped up his career having played 12 Tests and 40 ODIs. Gary went on to play 101 Tests and 184 ODIs, scoring 7 289 and 6 798 runs in each format, respectively.
Gary also returned to the game as a coach, winning the 2011 Cricket World Cup with India in that role.
The Morkels
Albie and Morne Morkel never played a Test together during a period that stretched from 2004 to 2018. The closest they ever came was when Albie replaced an injured Morne in a Test in 2009.
They did, however, play 46 white-ball matches together — 20 ODIs and 26 T20Is — winning 28 of those. In 2007, against Zimbabwe in the first ODI, they made history by becoming the first brothers to open the bowling together in that format. They were also key to the Proteas beating Australia 4-1 away in the ODI series in 2009.
The Hermanns
Finally, and most recently, Rubin and Jordan Hermann became the latest pair of brothers to play for South Africa together when they both featured against New Zealand in a T20I at Bay Oval earlier this year. The Hermann brothers are also part of the current Proteas squad participating in the T20I tri-series against Namibia and Zimbabwe in Windhoek.