Another one down for South Africa as one of their premier fast bowlers Vernon Philander announces his retirement from International Cricket and ongoing series against England will be his last for South Africa.
As speculation galore since he announces his retirement and it is confirmed now that he has signed a deal with English County Somerset for next year’s county season.
Vernon Philander is one of the mainstays of South African bowling department since he made his debut for South Africa back in 2011. 34 year old Philander has represented South Africa in 60 test matches before start of the current series and has captured 216 test wickets for South Africa in whites with an outstanding bowling average of 22.16 runs per wicket and bowling strike rate of under 50 balls per wicket.
Not permanent fixture in One Day Internationals for South Africa and played only 30 ODI’s over span of 12 years with last one in 2015. He took 41 ODI wickets at an average of under 25 and economy rate of 4.62 runs per over which is outstanding in modern days fast paced cricket.
Philander’s career has been hampered by injuries but he continues to return stronger every time.
South Africa is the most affected team by Kolpak as many of his talented players in past decade or so had withdrawn their services from South Africa and signed lucrative deals with various English counties so that they can get better financial returns and have secure future for them and their families by attaining financial gains.
Since 2004 as many as 45 South African domestic and international cricketers have signed Kolpak deals with English counties.
Some young players Rille Rossow, Kyle Abbott, Merchant de Lange and Duanne Oliver turned their back to South Africa at young age and opt to play for counties as local players whereas few players experienced ones from domestic circuit and test level who think that they do not have future in South African cricket opted for Kolpak route.
What is Kolpak Deal??? If a player signs Kolpak deal than he / she give up rights to represent his country. And Kolpak players may become eligible to play for England after 4 years of qualification period.
Below is the complete year wise list of South African players who signed Kolpak deals with English counties:
| S.# | Year of Kolpak Deal | Name of Player |
| 1 | 2004 | Claude Henderson |
| 2 | 2004 | Greg Smith |
| 3 | 2005 | Riki Wessels |
| 4 | 2005 | Charl Willoughby |
| 5 | 2005 | Martin van Jaarsveld |
| 6 | 2005 | Zander de Bruyn |
| 7 | 2006 | Lance Klusener |
| 8 | 2006 | Paul Harris |
| 9 | 2007 | Faf du Plessis |
| 10 | 2007 | Garnett Kruger |
| 11 | 2007 | Jacques Rudolph |
| 12 | 2007 | Ryan McLaren |
| 13 | 2007 | Tyron Henderson |
| 14 | 2008 | Alfonso Thomas |
| 15 | 2008 | Andrew Hall |
| 16 | 2008 | Charl Langeveldt |
| 17 | 2008 | Dillon du Preez |
| 18 | 2008 | Dominic Telo |
| 19 | 2008 | Friedel de Wet |
| 20 | 2008 | Johan van der Wath |
| 21 | 2008 | Justin Kemp |
| 22 | 2008 | Nantie Hayward |
| 23 | 2008 | Nicky Boje |
| 24 | 2008 | Shaun Pollock |
| 25 | 2009 | André Nel |
| 26 | 2010 | Neil McKenzie |
| 27 | 2011 | Johann Myburgh |
| 28 | 2012 | Gareth Roderick |
| 29 | 2013 | Ashwell Prince |
| 30 | 2014 | Colin Ingram |
| 31 | 2015 | Alviro Petersen |
| 32 | 2015 | Richard Levi |
| 33 | 2016 | Hardus Viljoen |
| 34 | 2016 | Simon Harmer |
| 35 | 2016 | Stiaan van Zyl |
| 36 | 2017 | David Wiese |
| 37 | 2017 | Daryn Smit |
| 38 | 2017 | Kyle Abbott |
| 39 | 2017 | Rilee Rossouw |
| 40 | 2017 | Marchant de Lange |
| 41 | 2018 | Heino Kuhn |
| 42 | 2018 | Morné Morkel |
| 43 | 2018 | Wayne Parnell |
| 44 | 2019 | Duanne Olivier |
| 45 | 2018 | Blessing Muzarabani |