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Personal Information
| Full Name | Daryll John Cullinan |
| Date of Birth | March 4, 1967 |
| Nationality | South Africa |
| Height | 5 ft 3 in (1.6 m) |
| Role | Right arm off break Bowler, Right-handed Batsman |
| Past Team(s) | |
| Family | Virginia (Ex-Spouse) |
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Daryll Cullinan: A Brief Biography
Daryll Cullinan Biography
Daryll Cullinan was one of the most prominent batsmen to have emerged from South Africa in the post-apartheid era. The stylish right-hander played for the Proteas from 1993 to 2001 helping his team emerge as a force to reckon with in world cricket.
Background
Cullinan shot to fame when he became the youngest South African to score a first-class hundred, beating the previous record held by the legendary Graeme Pollock, a feat that would put pressure on him in the early phase of his career, with him being called the ‘new Graeme Pollock’.
His knock of 337 runs in 1993 was also the highest individual first-class score by a South African at that point.
Debut
Cullinan’s exploits in domestic cricket ensured that it didn’t take too long for him to catch the national selectors’ attention, leading to his elevation to the Proteas Test team in 1993. He made his debut against India at Cape Town, scoring 46 and 28 in the two innings. What made him stand apart was his assured technique against both pace and spin coupled with his stylish stroke play.
Rise to Glory
Cullinan’s big moment came during the Sri Lankan tour in 1993 when he made his first international hundred (102) on a turning track in Colombo. After an abysmal tour of Australia, Cullinan flourished against the English bowling in 1994 scoring a glorious 94 while his teammates fell like a pack of cards. During this period, South Africa’s fortunes were closely linked with Cullinan scoring big, evidenced by the fact that only once out of 14 times, South Africa lost a Test in which Cullinan scored a century.
Low Point
Despite having a successful international career, Cullinan was always cited as ‘Shane Warne’s bunny’ along with his failures against Australia. As observed by the man himself, it was more due to his fascination to do well against Aussies, apart from whom he scored runs against all other teams, in all conditions.
In 70 test matches, Cullinan scored 4554 runs at an average of 44.21 to go with 3860 runs in 138 ODIs.
Retirement
Cullinan had made up his mind to retire from ODI cricket in 2001, but the South African cricket board, perhaps realizing his importance, persuaded him to stay. However, differences crept up again in 2002 leading to his retirement from all formats of the game, thus ending a memorable career.
Post his retirement, Cullinan took up a coaching role with the now defunct Indian Cricket League team, Kolkata Tigers and is still working as an analyst on various media platforms.
