Justin Kemp

Justin Kemp Biography

Born on October 2, 1977, Justin Miles Kemp was an all-rounder who could clear boundaries at will. A clean striker of the ball, the South African was a right arm fast-medium bowler as well.

Though he had considerably less Test match experience, he has played 85 One-Day Internationals (ODIs) and has scored a total of 1512 runs with an average of 31.50 and has picked up 32 wickets.

Background

Justin Kemp hails from a cricketing family. His grandfather and father played for the Border province while his cousin, David Callaghan, is former Proteas international player. Thus, Kemp was familiar with cricket from a young age and was picked for the U19 team soon.

Debut

Justin made his ODI debut on 14th January 2001, at the age of 24 and subsequently on 20th January he also played his first test match against Sri Lanka, in which he registered match-figures of 5 for 54, with South Africa winning the match.

Rise to glory

After being out of international cricket for three years, the South African was selected for the home series against England in January 2005. Thus began what he can fondly look back at as the purplest patch of his career.

The series of seven matches was won by South Africa, with a splendid performance from Justin. In the fourth match, Kemp and Herschelle Gibbs added 143 runs for the third wicket, with Kemp scoring 57 off 36 deliveries which was vital in taking his side to a total of 291. With a thunderous 50 ball 80 in the next game, he helped set up the 300 plus target that won South Africa the match.

His maiden century was against India in the India tour of South Africa 2006. South Africa was down to 76 for six wickets but after Justin Kemp and Andrew Hall came to bat at number seven and eight respectively, they thrashed the Indian bowlers and added an unbeaten stand of 138 from just 85 deliveries for the eighth wicket. With six fours and seven sixes, Kemp scored an impressive 89 ball 100*. South Africa enjoyed a massive 106 run victory.

Low points

Justin Kemp was charged with consumption of Marijuana in 2001 before he took his three year break. With a career full of struggle, Justin wasn't able to get his name on the team sheet as often as before following his international stint.

Club career

In 2010, Justin Kemp was picked by the Indian Premier League team Chennai Super Kings. After that Kemp continued to play as a senior member of the Cape Cobras in the seasons that followed, playing first-class cricket until 2015.

Kemp announced his retirement at the end of the 2015-16 season.