Arrest warrant issued against former South African cricketer Thami Tsolekile

An arrest warrant has been issued against former South African wicketkeeper, Thami Tsolekile, as he failed to appear in the Goodwood Magistrate court. As per reports, Tsolekile was expected to appear before the Magistrate court in a case in which he is accused of assaulting a 14-year-old boy in Pinelands in September.

Tsolekile who is under a 12-year ban from cricket for his involvement in match-fixing as he was found guilty for trying to influence the results of matches during the Ram Slam T20 Challenge in 2015 while leading the Lions team was arrested by the Police on October 8 and has appeared ahead of the court in the case and has maintained denial against the charges levied on him.

The incident of assault happened near the Pinelands High School. He allegedly grabbed the boy by his shirt and slapped him across the face. Though the cricketer admitted of driving the child to the School to report him to his teachers he has denied any kind of assault. Tsolekile was quoted by Eyewitness News as saying that rather it was the kid who swore at him and threw stones at his car.

In his cricketing career, Tsolekile has played for major teams like Cape Cobras, Lions, South Africa A, Western Province along with the South African national team. He made his Test debut in 2004 on the tour of India, played 3 Tests and scored 47 runs with 6 catches and had the best score of 22. An average of 9.40 never quite earned him a place back in the Test team.

He continued to be a regular feature in first-class and list A cricket where he has played 160 and 142 matches and has scored 5844 and 1470 runs respectively. He has effected 534 and 209 dismissals behind the wicket. The 36-year-old has six first-class centuries to his name and has also appeared in 80 Twenty20 games.