From the news desk

Tributes stream in for cricket great Saaiet Magiet

Share this article

The family of Cape Town cricket legend Saaiet Magiet who passed away in Malaysia this week are in the process of repatriating his body to be buried in Cape Town. The 66 year old all-rounder died after a sudden heart attack while on holiday on one of the islands off the mainland. His body was flown to the mainland on Tuesday afternoon and assessed by doctors at a local hospital. The family said his body would most likely be flown back on Saturday and no janazah arrangements have been confirmed as yet.

Magiet captained the non-racial SA Cricket Board in 1987 and 1991 and is considered one of the top coloured sportsmen during apartheid.

His brother Rushdie Magiet, a former Proteas chairman of selectors, said that he was very fast and knew how to get a wicket. He described him as any team’s dream player.

“He was an amazing fielder and a batsman and he would have made South Africa very proud as a national player. If I think back he was one of the best all-rounders of our time. It’s really sad that our country’s national team missed this exceptional player,” said Magiet.

Magiet is also a stalwart of the Primrose Cricket club in Lansdowne, where he excelled from 1971 to 1991.
In his Western Province first-class career, he had taken 170 wickets at an average 12.79 in a career spanning from 1971-1991.

He was one of three players to score more than 2000 runs (2296) with Seraj Gabriels (2040) and Munsoor Abdullah (2198) being the other two batsmen. He is considered the most capped player with 63 appearances and was called ‘The player of the Board era’.

But besides his remarkable talent on the cricket pitch, Magiet also had a flair for rugby and played as a flank and No. 8.

Born and bred in Claremont, he attended Spes Bona High School in Athlone. While there, he attained his Western Province Senior Schools colours in rugby.

Rushdie said the Prime Minster of Malaysia has been assisting the family to arrange the body returned to South Africa. The family had to wait on the autopsy to be completed, which could only be done on one of the neighbouring islands.

Meanwhile, a myriad of Cape Town-based cricket clubs and cricketers have expressed their condolences on social media.

The Ottoman Cricket Club family would like to extend our deepest sympathies and sincerest condolences to the family of…

Posted by Ottoman Cricket Club on Tuesday, 17 July 2018

Wholesome Rylands Cricket Club would like to pass our heartfelt condolences, sympathy and support to the family of Uncle…

Posted by Rylands Cricket Club on Tuesday, 17 July 2018

The family said that they will only inform the public of the janazah details after they have received the body of the deceased.  VOC


Share this article

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

WhatsApp WhatsApp us
Wait a sec, saving restore vars.