List of Kolpak cricketers

The Kolpak ruling was made on 8 May 2003 in favour of Slovak handball player Maroš Kolpak, by the European Court of Justice. Maroš Kolpak had lost his contract with German handball club TSV Ostringen, as his team already had two non-EU players. Kolpak appealed to the European Court of Justice, claiming that he should not be considered as a non-EU player as he was a German resident, and Slovakia was part of the European Union Association Agreement. The court ruled in favour of Kolpak, and allowed citizens of countries that had free trade treaties with the EU, and were part of European Union Association Agreements, to work in any EU country. In March 2004, South African cricketer Claude Henderson became the first player to sign a Kolpak agreement, which ended his international career.[1][2][3][4]

Citizens of countries with free trade treaties with the EU, are eligible for signing Kolpak deals.
Maroš Kolpak, who lends his name to the ruling.
Dwayne Smith was a Kolpak player for Sussex until 2010.

The ruling allowed citizens of around 100 nations to play cricket in any EU nation without being considered as an overseas player. The Cotonou Agreement allows the citizens of most Caribbean and African nations to be eligible for signing Kolpak agreements. However, the British Home Office stipulates that a player must have a valid work permit for four years or must have a specified number of appearances in international cricket to sign a Kolpak deal. Kolpak players older than 18 years can qualify to represent England after playing for seven years for a county and gaining citizenship. The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) pays £1,100 less to a county for each County Championship game and £275 less for each One Day match per Kolpak player who plays instead of a domestic cricketer. This is aimed at reducing the mass arrivals of overseas players into county cricket.[3][4][5]

Cricketers born in British overseas territories can play county cricket as locals and need not sign Kolpak agreements. For instance, Omari Banks, who has played for the West Indies, was eligible to play for Leicestershire and Somerset as a local player because he is from Anguilla (a British overseas territory).[5]

Kolpak deals are not possible once Britain withdrew from the European Union as part of Brexit.[6]

List of players

edit
 
Alfonso Thomas played his only international match in 2007 before joining Somerset as a Kolpak player in 2008.
 
Nicky Boje retired with 100 Test wickets and later joined Northamptonshire as a Kolpak player.
 
Ashwell Prince was verbally abused by Andrew Gale during a Roses Match for being a Kolpak player.
 
Andrew Hall joined Northamptonshire in 2008 after a stint with the Hyderabad Heroes.
 
Tino Best playing for Yorkshire in 2010. He joined Hampshire as a Kolpak player in 2017.
 
Rilee Rossouw joined Hampshire as a Kolpak player in 2017.
Year Name Country County team(s) Notes Ref(s)
2004 Claude Henderson   South Africa Leicestershire Henderson was the first player to sign under the Kolpak rule [1]
2004 Grant Flower   Zimbabwe Essex His brother Andy Flower also played for Essex, but he held a British passport. Grant returned to represent Zimbabwe in 2010. [7][8][9]
2004 Greg Smith   South Africa Derbyshire, Essex Smith joined Essex in 2011, again as a Kolpak player. He is South African, though he has never played international cricket. [10][11][12]
2004 Ottis Gibson   Barbados Leicestershire [1]
2005 Riki Wessels   South Africa Northamptonshire, Nottinghamshire, Worcestershire Riki is the son of former cricketer Kepler Wessels. He joined Nottinghamshire in 2011 on a Tier 1 Entrepreneur Visa. [13][14]
2005 Charl Willoughby   South Africa Leicestershire, Somerset Willoughby joined Somerset in 2006 and qualified as a UK resident in 2011 [15][16][17]
2005 Martin van Jaarsveld   South Africa Kent, Glamorgan van Jaarsevld moved to Glamorgan in 2012 [18][19]
2005 Murray Goodwin   Zimbabwe Sussex Goodwin had earlier represented Sussex from 2001 as an overseas player [20]
2005 Zander de Bruyn   South Africa Worcestershire, Somerset, Surrey [21]
2006 Lance Klusener   South Africa Northamptonshire [22]
2006 Paul Harris   South Africa Warwickshire Harris left the county when he was selected for the South African Test side in 2007 [23]
2007 Anthony Ireland   Zimbabwe Gloucestershire, Middlesex Ireland moved to Middlesex in 2011, again as a Kolpak player [24][25]
2007 Faf du Plessis   South Africa Lancashire du Plessis returned to South Africa when the new rules were formed in 2010 and made his ODI debut in 2011. [26]
2007 Garnett Kruger   South Africa Leicestershire Kruger joined Glamorgan for the 2009 season [27][28]
2007 Jacques Rudolph   South Africa Yorkshire Rudolph left Yorkshire in 2011 to play for South Africa again. He later represented Surrey and Glamorgan as an overseas player. [29][30][31][32]
2007 Pedro Collins   Barbados Surrey, Middlesex He moved to Middlesex in 2010, again as Kolpak player [33][34]
2007 Ryan McLaren   South Africa Kent McLaren left Kent in 2009 to play for South Africa again. He later represented Middlesex, Hampshire and Lancashire as an overseas player. [35][36]
2007 Tyron Henderson   South Africa Middlesex [37]
2008 Alfonso Thomas   South Africa Somerset [38]
2008 Andre Adams   New Zealand Nottinghamshire, Hampshire Adams moved to Hampshire in 2014, again as a Kolpak player [39]
2008 Andrew Hall   South Africa Northamptonshire [40]
2008 Charl Langeveldt   South Africa Derbyshire [41]
2008 Corey Collymore   Barbados Sussex, Middlesex [42][43]
2008 Dillon du Preez   South Africa Leicestershire du Preez is South African though he never played international cricket [44]
2008 Dominic Telo   South Africa Derbyshire [45]
2008 Dwayne Smith   Barbados Sussex His Kolpak status expired in 2010 though he continued playing for Sussex as an overseas player [46]
2008 Friedel de Wet   South Africa Hampshire [47][48]
2008 Jermaine Lawson   Jamaica Leicestershire [49]
2008 Johan van der Wath   South Africa Northamptonshire [40]
2008 Justin Kemp   South Africa Kent [50]
2008 Nantie Hayward   South Africa Hampshire, Derbyshire Hayward joined Derbyshire for the 2009 season [51][52]
2008 Nicky Boje   South Africa Northamptonshire [40]
2008 Shaun Pollock   South Africa Durham [53]
2008 Wavell Hinds   Jamaica Derbyshire [54]
2009 André Nel   South Africa Surrey [55]
2010 Neil McKenzie   South Africa Hampshire [56]
2011 Johann Myburgh   South Africa Hampshire, Somerset Myburgh played for Durham as an overseas player in 2012 and joined Somerset in 2013 as a Kolpak player [57][58]
2012 Gareth Roderick   South Africa Gloucestershire [59][60]
2013 Ashwell Prince   South Africa Lancashire Prince had earlier represented Lancashire from 2009 as an overseas player. [61][62]
2013 Brendan Nash   Jamaica Kent Nash joined as an overseas player in 2012 and got Kolpak status in 2013. [63][64]
2013 Kyle Jarvis   Zimbabwe Lancashire [65]
2014 Colin Ingram   South Africa Glamorgan [66]
2015 Alviro Petersen   South Africa Lancashire Petersen was banned for 2 years by Cricket South Africa in December 2016 for attempting to cover up match fixing in the 2015–16 Ram Slam T20 Challenge. [67][68]
2015 Brendan Taylor   Zimbabwe Nottinghamshire [69]
2015 Fidel Edwards   Barbados Hampshire [70]
2015 Richard Levi   South Africa Northamptonshire [71]
2016 Ravi Rampaul   Trinidad and Tobago Surrey, Derbyshire Rampaul moved to Derbyshire in 2018, again as a Kolpak player [72][73]
2016 Hardus Viljoen   South Africa Derbyshire/Kent [74]
2016 Simon Harmer   South Africa Essex [75]
2016 Stiaan van Zyl   South Africa Sussex [76]
2017 Tino Best   Barbados Hampshire [77]
2017 David Wiese   South Africa Sussex [78]
2017 Daryn Smit   South Africa Derbyshire [79]
2017 Grant Elliott   New Zealand Warwickshire [80]
2017 Kyle Abbott   South Africa Hampshire [81]
2017 Rilee Rossouw   South Africa Hampshire [81]
2017 Marchant de Lange   South Africa Glamorgan
2017 Shivnarine Chanderpaul   Guyana Lancashire [82]
2018 Heino Kuhn   South Africa Kent

[83]

2018 Morné Morkel   South Africa Surrey

[84]

2018 Blessing Muzarabani   Zimbabwe Northamptonshire [85]
2018 Wayne Parnell   South Africa Worcestershire

[86]

2019 Duanne Olivier   South Africa Yorkshire

[87]

2019 Miguel Cummins   Barbados Middlesex [88]

References

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