Playing style

Johan is a very attacking and aggressive Right Handed Batsman who usually bats in the lower middle order coming in and increasing the strike rate. He is also a very aggressive Right Arm Medium-Fast Bowler who regularly takes wickets with the new ball.

South Africa

Van Der Wath started his career off in 1995 with the Easterns

Easterns cricket team

Easterns cricket team has played first-class cricket in South Africa since October 1991.For the purposes of the SuperSport Series, Easterns has merged with Northerns to form the Titans.-Honours:* Currie Cup - 2002–03; shared - * Standard Bank Cup - * South African...

 in South Africa where he played one One Day match. The following year he made his first class debut but only played one more match after that before joining Free State for the beginning of the 1997 South African season. He scored his highest first class score of 113* in 2002 while playing for Free State. After 7 seasons with the club he joined the Eagles

Eagles cricket team

The Chevrolet Knights is the name used by the combined Free State cricket team and Griqualand West first class cricket teams in South Africa. The team previously competed as the Diamond Eagles...

. It was here where he produced performances good enough for the selectors of South Africa

South Africa

The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...

 to take notice of him and in his second season he made his international debut. He was banned for playing in South Africa

South Africa

The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...

 when he joined up to the ICL.

England

While still playing in South Africa

South Africa

The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...

, he joined Sussex in 2005 as an overseas player for the English season

2005 English cricket season

Before the beginning of the 2005 English cricket season began, a resurgent English cricket team had won four Test series in a row, going unbeaten through the 2004 calendar year. The start of the international season saw England defeat Bangladesh 2–0 in their two-match series, winning both Tests by...

 playing in 17 matches altogether. He then joined his second English

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

 county in 2007 playing for Northamptonshire, but didn't finish the season after being called up by South Africa

South Africa

The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...

 for the World Twenty20, and he was replaced by Nicky Boje

Nicky Boje

Nico "Nicky" Boje is a South African cricketer who played in 43 Tests and 115 One Day Internationals for South Africa, and attended Grey College in Bloemfontein...

 (who next year became captain). The next year his was signed as a Kolpak player, however just before the season started he was banned by the ECB

England and Wales Cricket Board

The England and Wales Cricket Board is the governing body of cricket in England and Wales. It was created on 1 January 1997 combining the roles of the Test and County Cricket Board, the National Cricket Association and the Cricket Council...

 for playing in the Indian Cricket League

Indian Cricket League

The Indian Cricket League was a private cricket league funded by Zee Entertainment Enterprises that operated between 2007 and 2009 in India...

 along side four other players including Northampton

Northampton

Northampton is a large market town and local government district in the East Midlands region of England. Situated about north-west of London and around south-east of Birmingham, Northampton lies on the River Nene and is the county town of Northamptonshire. The demonym of Northampton is...

's new signing Andrew Hall

Andrew Hall

Andrew James Hall is a South African cricketer and a former member of the South African cricket team . He is an all-rounder who bowls fast-medium pace, and has been used as both an opening batsman and in the lower order. Prior to making it on the South African first class cricket scene he played...

. A month later after an appeal, he and Hall were allowed to play again, a spokesman said it was a "unlawful, unreasonable, capricious and discriminatory" ban. During that year, Johan recorded his best first class figures of 7/60 and took 43 wicket altogether that season. In 2009, he was an important team member of the Northants Steelbacks Twenty20 Cup

Twenty20 Cup

The Twenty20 Cup was a cricket competition for English and Welsh county clubs.In 2010, it has been replaced by Friends Provident t20 as the domestic Twenty20 competition.-History:...

 squad that got to the finals day at Edgbaston

Edgbaston Cricket Ground

Edgbaston Cricket Ground, also known as the County Ground or Edgbaston Stadium, is a cricket ground in the Edgbaston area of Birmingham, England...

. During the group stages he won the match against Worcestershire Royals scoring the 22 needed in the last over that kept Northamptonshire's winning run going. That season proved to be Johan's best season at Northants as he took over 50 first class

First-class cricket

First-class cricket is a class of cricket that consists of matches of three or more days' scheduled duration, that are between two sides of eleven players and are officially adjudged first-class by virtue of the standard of the competing teams...

 wickets and scored just under 500 runs. Van der Wath and Riki Wessels

Riki Wessels

Mattheus Hendrik Wessels, also known as Riki Wessels, is an Australian cricketer who has played for the cricket teams of Marylebone Cricket Club and Northamptonshire...

 were unable to play for the county in the 2010 season.

Indian Cricket League

Johan only played two seasons of the Indian Cricket League

Indian Cricket League

The Indian Cricket League was a private cricket league funded by Zee Entertainment Enterprises that operated between 2007 and 2009 in India...

 before cancelling his own contract. He played for the Mumbai Champs

Mumbai Champs

Mumbai Champs was one of the nine teams played in the defunct Indian Cricket League . The team is based in Mumbai, India and its captain is former New Zealand batsman Nathan Astle.- Players :...

 alongside fellow international cricketers Nathan Astle

Nathan Astle

Nathan John Astle is a former New Zealand cricketer. He was an attacking batsman who liked to play batting shots such as the cover drive and the pull shot. He also scored the world's fastest Test double century in terms of balls faced. This remarkable innings of 222 was scored in just 168 balls...

, Tino Best

Tino Best

Tino la Bertram Best is a West Indian cricketer.Short in stature, Tino Best is a fast and aggressive bowler with a bowling average of 48.67 in Test cricket....

 and Michael Kasprowicz

Michael Kasprowicz

Michael Scott Kasprowicz is a former Australian Test cricketer. He is a right arm fast bowler, effective outfielder and useful lower order batsman, and has enjoyed a successful career both in Australia and in the English county scene since making his debut for Queensland as a seventeen year old in...

. He played 23 matches with a highest score of 43* against Ahmedabad Rockets

Ahmedabad Rockets

Ahmedabad Rockets was one of the nine teams played in the defunct Indian Cricket League. The captain is former Australian international batsman Damien Martyn...

 and his best figures were 3/24 verses Chennai Superstars

Chennai Superstars

Chennai Superstars was one of the nine teams played in the defunct Indian Cricket League founded in 2007. The team is based in Chennai, coached by Michael Bevan and captained by Stuart Law, both reputed Australian cricketers....

.
For the 2011 season he has joined Royal Challengers Bangalore

Royal Challengers Bangalore

Royal Challengers Bangalore is a cricket team based in Bangalore that plays in the Indian Premier League and currently lead by Daniel Vettori. The team is owned by Dr...

 in the IPL

Indian Premier League

The Indian Premier League is a professional league for Twenty20 cricket competition in India. It was initiated by the Board of Control for Cricket in India , headquartered in Mumbai, and is supervised by BCCI Vice President Rajeev Shukla, who serves as the league's Chairman and Commissioner...

.

International career

He played for Under 19's South African team

South African U-19 cricket team

The South African Under-19 cricket team have been playing official Under-19 test matches since 1995. International players to have represented the team include Wayne Parnell, Neil McKenzie, AB de Villiers, Mark Boucher, Makhaya Ntini and Craig Kieswetter, who now plays for England.The Under-19...

 in 97 making two appearances against Pakistan, making the step up to 'A' cricket four years later, playing up until 2006. Although Johan never played test cricket

Test cricket

Test cricket is the longest form of the sport of cricket. Test matches are played between national representative teams with "Test status", as determined by the International Cricket Council , with four innings played between two teams of 11 players over a period of up to a maximum five days...

, he was a regular in the South African

South African cricket team

The South African national cricket team represent South Africa in international cricket. They are administrated by Cricket South Africa.South Africa is a full member of the International Cricket Council, also known as ICC, with Test and One Day International, or ODI, status...

 one day side between 2006 and 2007 playing 10 ODI's and also 8 international Twenty20

Twenty20

Twenty20 is a form of cricket, originally introduced in England for professional inter-county competition by the England and Wales Cricket Board , in 2003. A Twenty20 game involves two teams, each has a single innings, batting for a maximum of 20 overs. Twenty20 cricket is also known as T20 cricket...

 matches. His debut came when Jacques Kallis

Jacques Kallis

Jacques Henry Kallis is a South African cricketer. As an all-rounder he is a formidable right-handed batsman and fast-medium swingbowler. He is one of the greatest all-rounders of all time, being the only cricketer in the history of the game to hold more than 12,000 runs and 250 wickets in both...

 was injured during the VB Series in Australia, and played his first game at the Telstra Dome

Telstra Dome

Docklands Stadium is a multi-purpose sports and entertainment stadium in the Docklands precinct of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia...

, in Melbourne

Melbourne

Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...

. He retired from International Cricket

International Cricket

International Cricket is a cricket video game for the Nintendo Entertainment System that was only released in Australia in 1992. Developed by Melbourne-based Beam Software, it was the only cricket game released for the NES. There were no attempts to release a cricket video game to the North...

 in 2007 after South Africa

South Africa

The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...

 also banned him due to him playing in the rebel Indian Cricket League

Indian Cricket League

The Indian Cricket League was a private cricket league funded by Zee Entertainment Enterprises that operated between 2007 and 2009 in India...

. Two years later though, Johan along with Northants team mate Andrew Hall

Andrew Hall

Andrew James Hall is a South African cricketer and a former member of the South African cricket team . He is an all-rounder who bowls fast-medium pace, and has been used as both an opening batsman and in the lower order. Prior to making it on the South African first class cricket scene he played...

 were allowed to play for their country again after ending their contracts with the ICL before the deadline of 31 May 2009 set by Cricket South Africa.

External links