Top 5 South African Test spinners of all time

4 Aubrey Faulkner

Port Elizabeth-born Aubrey Faulkner was one of the finest exponents of the leg break and googly in the pre World War 1 era and bamboozled almost all opponents who came up against his guiles.

Faulkner made his Test debut for South Africa in 1906 against England at Johannesburg and right from that time, he displayed his ability to turn the ball both ways without much of a change in his action.

In 25 Test matches, he picked up 82 wickets at an average of 26.58 and an excellent strike rate of only 51.5. Faulkner was one of the earliest bowlers to have in cricket to have mastered the googly, and his accuracy coupled with his skill at flighting the ball always kept the batsmen second-guessing his next move.

On the other hand, he could also bowl a vicious yorker that often caught batsmen on the wrong foot.