In what must have been a heart breaking personal decision Rusty Theon retired from cricket in the last week of September 2015 on the back of physical problems.
He is currently in the USA and Alvin Reeves kindly forwarded Rusty’s comments onto MyPE.
On his injuries Theron said; “I have physically been having issues with my knee and niggles keep cropping up more regularly. I haven’t been able to be 100% flat out most of the time as a result so I took the hint from the body and moved forward to America.”
Rusty is now in the USA and studying towards an English Major with his eye on teaching.
He misses home and the Warriors saying; “…the Warriors have been pretty much my focus for all of my proffesional career and have always been my favourite team evn whilst playing for SA, IPL or CPL. It has been sad to go but would have been even sadder to go later whilst just holding on for the last few pay cheques.
The seam bowler made his name as a last-over specialist in the 2009-10 Standard Bank Pro20.
Rusty’s bowling is full and straight most of the time, mixed up with the odd slower ball. Theron’s cricketing prowess was recognised in primary school where he received a bursary to Grey High School in Port Elizabeth, a training ground for many cricketing greats such as Graeme Pollock, Peter Pollock, Johan Botha and Wayne Parnell.
Theron made his debut for Eastern Province in October 2005, in a match at Port Elizabeth against the Zimbabwe U-23 team, bowling them out for 145 and thus helping his team win the fixture with match figures of 2/26 of 6.3 overs. He made his first class debut in November 2005, appearing against KwaZulu Natal. He soon showed his potential and developed into an important member of the Warriors side, leading the team in subsequent bowling charts in both first-class and List A competitions.
In 2008, Theron’s performances for Warriors led to him being awarded the MTN Domestic Championship Cricketer of the Year award in Cricket South Africa’s 2008 Mutual Federal SA Cricket Awards. Also during the same year, he played English club cricket for Staffordshire-based club Audley, where he replaced fellow South African Alfonso Thomas. He also represented the South Africa A side during the same year.
In October 2009, he was reported for a suspect action during a first-class game against the Lions and was cleared eight days later. The season went on to be the one that would launch Theron into the big time. He won at least two out of eight matches for the Warriors in the last over, including the first leg semi-final against the Cobras in which he defended eight runs.
He was awarded a contract by Cricket South Africa in February 2010, despite having never played a match for the national side. That was followed by an IPL contract with Kings XI Punjab. Within hours of landing in India, he picked up the Man-of-the-Match award on debut in a thriller which went down to the Super Over.
Theron’s strong domestic performances in all competitions, notably during the Standard Bank Pro20 series, led to him being awarded both a place in South Africa’s 18-man provisional 2010 ICC World Twenty20 squad, a national contract and signing with Indian Premier League team Kings XI Punjab. In his debut for Punjab against the Chennai Super Kings, he recorded figures of 2/17 in his four overs and bowled the Super Over that led his team to victory, subsequently being awarded with the Man of the Match award. He played in the two T20 Internationals against Zimbabwe and during the ODI series he took his first ODI wicket that of opener Hamilton Masakadza. He took 11 wickets in the three-match ODI series against Zimbabwe including a five-wicket haul.
He was then selected for the two match twenty-20 series against Pakistan but not the ODI series. He took four wickets in the two match series and was subsequently added to the squad for the ODI series against Pakistan. Theron was picked up by Deccan Chargers for IPL for the season of 2011.
Theron (31 off 16) and Wayne Parnell (29 off 11) helped South Africa win the second T20I against Australia, from a score of 84/7.
Juan “Rusty” Theron Was Acquired By Deccan Chargers in 2011 IPL Auction. He remained for the Deccan Chargers till 2012.
In 2015 Theron was picked up by Rajasthan Royals to Play for IPL 8.
Alan Straton
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