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The 23-year-old right-hand batter also donned the number 17 on the back of his jersey, just like his father did for South Africa.
Matthew de Villiers (L) and AB de Villiers (R) (X)
South African Matthew de Villiers recently made waves in the cricketing circles with his First-Class debut, where he shared an uncanny resemblance with his father, the legendary AB de Villiers.
The 23-year-old right-hand batter donned the number 17 on the back of his jersey, just like his father did for South Africa. Not only that, the youngster also displayed some vintage ‘ABD’ with the bat, pulling away and playing strokes at his will, recalling memories of his father in international action.
Matthew progressed through the prestigious Wynberg Boys High School, a renowned South African Cricket School and the former School of Jacques Kallis & Allan Lamb.
The youngster plays an attacking middle order role and looks to rotate the strike and build his innings by continually keeping the scoreboard ticking, not necessarily through smashing the ball to all parts, like his father, but rather by punching gaps and running hard.
But similar to his father, Matthew is also a gun fielder and can cover all positions, equally comfortable in the slips as he is in the deep.
The Protean made his first-calss debut just this past month, in October 2024, with the Warriors for a 4-Day Domestic Series fixture against North West at St George’s Park in Port Elizabeth.
It didn’t take much time for de Villiers to get going with the bat as he notched a handful of wonderful outings, scoring 94 in the first innings and 58 in the second, as the Warriors and North West drew the fixture.
Prior to joining the Warriors, de Villiers played for Western Province Colts – and was among the most prolific run-scorers in the Western Province Cricket Association premier league for several seasons with Claremont Cricket Club.