One sport that is quietly but steadily gaining popularity on the African continent is cricket. Often referred to as the gentlemen’s game, cricket can be highly fascinating to watch, especially in its short limited overs format. Without a question, the top cricket nation in Africa at the moment is South Africa. At the time of writing, the Proteas – as the senior national men’s team is known – have made it through to the quarter-finals of the ICC Cricket World Cup and are poised to be at the top of the pile.
One man who has been instrumental in the success of the team is Abraham Benjamin de Villiers, more commonly referred to as “AB”. De Villiers is captain of the South African One Day International squad and is arguably the best batsman in the world at the moment. Among his many batting achievements currently are records for the fastest 50, 100 and 150 runs in One Day Internationals. The second of these – the one for the fastest 100 (century, in the sport’s jargon) – was achieved as recently as January 2015 against the West Indies. Known for being incredibly gutsy, focused and creative, AB is our choice for today’s Big Up Africa feature. Our hats go off to this amazing sportsman for making his country and the entire continent proud. Here’s to shattering many more records!