Dale Martin Benkenstein (born 9 June 1974) is a South African former cricketer who was an all-rounder. He is currently first-team coach at Lancashire, having previously held the same role at Gloucestershire. Benkenstein was a member of the South Africa team that won the 1998 ICC KnockOut Trophy, the only ICC trophy the country has won till date.
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| Personal information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Full name | Dale Martin Benkenstein | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | 9 June 1974 Salisbury, Rhodesia | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Batting | Right-handed | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bowling | Right arm medium, off break | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Relations | Luc Benkenstein (son) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| International information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| National side | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ODI debut (cap 51) | 25 October 1998 v England | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Last ODI | 6 October 2002 v Bangladesh | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Domestic team information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Years | Team | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1993–2004 | Natal | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2004–2010 | Dolphins | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2005–2014 | Durham | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Career statistics | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Source: CricketArchive, 13 February 2014 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Early life
editBenkenstein was born in Salisbury, Rhodesia (now Harare, Zimbabwe), the son of Martin Benkenstein, who had played for Rhodesia in the Currie Cup in the 1970s. In 1980, around the time of Zimbabwean independence, Martin moved his family to Durban, South Africa. There, Benkenstein attended Durban Preparatory High School, Durban High School and Michaelhouse schools. He captained the SA Schools side in 1992, and led the SA Colts team to the West Indies in the same year.[1]
Domestic career
editNatal
editBenkenstein made his debut at the age of 18 for Natal in the 1993/94 season, playing under the tutelage of Malcolm Marshall. Marshall's analytical captaincy style made an impression on the young Benkenstein, who was later quoted as saying "In my eyes, he took the art of captaincy to another level."[1] When Marshall left Natal at the end of the 1996 season, Benkenstein, still only 22, was selected to succeed him as captain. While he got off to an unsteady start as captain, with Natal being heavily defeated by Border in his first game at the helm, he later recovered and led the team to win both the four-day and one-day domestic competitions.[1]
Durham
editWhen Benkenstein joined Durham for the 2005 season, he collected the club's player of the year award during his first attempt. During this time he also filled in as skipper for the absent Mike Hussey and Paul Collingwood. He went on to score 1,427 runs, which was a run scoring record at Durham until his mark was overtaken by Michael Di Venuto in 2009.[2]
Dale has been quoted as to saying 2008 may be his last season in the sport as he wants to spend more time with his wife Jacqueline and children in Consett.
International career
editBenkenstein had represented his country many times as a junior, including a stint as captain of the South African Schools side, and in the under-19 development team. Benkenstein's senior ODI debut for South Africa came against England at Dhaka in 1998/99, when the teams were playing in the quarter-final of the Wills International Cup. Despite some useful contributions, including 69 against the West Indies at Cape Town in 1998[3] and 3/5 against Kenya in the 2002/03 ICC Champions Trophy tournament,[4] he never managed to establish himself as a permanent member of the team. Benkenstein later admitted that he had not taken full advantage of the opportunities that came his way at the international level.[5]
Coaching career
editBenkenstein was named coach of Hampshire in February 2014, having worked as a batting coach for the South African side Dolphins.[6][7] He left his coaching role at Hampshire in July 2016 due to family reasons.[8] After returning to South Africa he became head coach at Hilton College where he worked with 2019 Hilton head boy, and future Hampshire County Cricket Club bowler, John Turner.[9][10]
In May 2021, Benkenstein joined Lancashire as batting coach on a short-term contract.[11] In November 2021 he was named head coach of Gloucestershire on a three-year contract.[12]
He was appointed head coach of Lancashire in 2023.[13]
Awards
editBenkenstein was named one of the Wisden Cricketers of the Year in 2009, based on his work with Durham in the English county championship.[1]
Style
editBenkenstein was a right-handed batsman, and a right-arm off-break or right-arm medium pace bowler.[5]
Career best performances
editUpdated 19 July 2011
| Batting | Bowling | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Score | Fixture | Venue | Season | Score | Fixture | Venue | Season | |
| ODI | 69 | South Africa v West Indies | Cape Town | 1999 | 3–5 | South Africa v Kenya | Colombo (RPS) | 2002 |
| FC | 259 | KwaZulu-Natal v Northerns | Durban | 2005 | 4–16 | Dolphins v Warriors | Durban | 2005 |
| LA | 107* | Natal v North West | Fochville | 1997 | 4–16 | Durham v Surrey | Chester-le-Street | 2005 |
| T20 | 60 | Durham v Lancashire | Chester-le-Street | 2011 | 3–10 | Durham v Yorkshire | Leeds | 2005 |
References
edit- ^ a b c d Westerby, John (8 April 2009). "Wisden Cricketer of the Year – Dale Benkenstein". Wisden. Retrieved 20 September 2009.
- ^ Wellock, Tim (15 September 2009). "Another landmark". Durham Times. Archived from the original on 5 October 2011. Retrieved 20 September 2009.
- ^ "5th ODI: South Africa v West Indies at Cape Town, Feb 2, 1999". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 20 September 2009.
- ^ "9th Match: Kenya v South Africa at Colombo (RPS), Sep 20, 2002". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 20 September 2009.
- ^ a b "Dale Benkenstein". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 20 September 2009.
- ^ "Does international experience make or break a coach?". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 14 November 2021.
- ^ "Benkenstein appointed as Hampshire coach". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 14 November 2021.
- ^ "Benkenstein leaves Hampshire for family reasons". ESPNcricinfo. ESPN Sports Media. 23 July 2016. Retrieved 23 July 2016.
- ^ "The overseas players likely to be denied a Southern Premier Cricket League debut in 2020". Portsmouth.co.uk. Retrieved 14 November 2021.
- ^ "Cricket talent in abundance coming from the Family of @KZN10com Schools |". Kzn10.cxom. Retrieved 14 November 2021.
- ^ "Dale Benkenstein named Lancashire Batting Coach". Lancashire CCC. 4 May 2021. Retrieved 30 November 2021.
- ^ "Dale Benkenstein: Gloucestershire name ex-South Africa all-rounder as head coach on three-year deal". BBC Sport. 30 November 2021. Retrieved 30 November 2021.
- ^ "Dale Benkenstein appointed Lancashire men's Head Coach". Lancashire County Cricket Club. Retrieved 12 May 2024.