(1910-10-15)15 October 1910 Kimberley, Cape Province, South Africa
Died
12 May 1994(1994-05-12) (aged 83) Hyde Park, Johannesburg, South Africa
Nickname
Bally
Batting
Right-handed
Bowling
Right-arm leg break, googly
Role
All-rounder
International information
National side
South Africa
Test debut (cap 132)
24 December 1930 v England
Last Test
31 December 1938 v England
Domestic team information
Years
Team
1926/27–1932/33
Griqualand West
1933/34
Border
1934/35–1935/36
Western Province
1936/37–1946/47
Transvaal
1938/39
North Eastern Transvaal
Career statistics
Competition
Test
First-class
Matches
9
75
Runs scored
174
2,696
Batting average
14.50
28.86
100s/50s
1/0
6/12
Top score
122*
206
Balls bowled
1572
12,557
Wickets
22
276
Bowling average
36.63
24.11
5 wickets in innings
1
20
10 wickets in match
0
9
Best bowling
5/49
8/60
Catches/stumpings
5/–
47/–
Source: CricketArchive, 29 January 2009
Xenophon Constantine Balaskas (15 October 1910 – 12 May 1994), sometimes known as Xen or Bally, was a South African cricketer. He was an all-rounder who went onto score 2,696 first-class cricket runs at 28.68 and went onto take 276 wickets at 24.11 with his crafty leg-spin bowling. He was the first test cricketer as well as the first international cricketer whose name started with the English alphabetical letter "X".[1] He was also fondly nicknamed as the "Saxophone" by his teammates. He played a pivotal role in South Africa's historic first ever test win in English soil.[2]
^Mukherjee, Abhishek (15 October 2016). "International cricketers: First to have names starting with I, O, Q, U, X, Z and other letters". Cricket Country. Retrieved 13 December 2023.
^Sengupta, Arunabha (15 October 2016). "Xen Balaskas: The leg-spinner of Greek origins who bowled South Africa to their first Test win in England". Cricket Country. Retrieved 13 December 2023.
Xenophon Constantine Balaskas (15 October 1910 – 12 May 1994), sometimes known as Xen or Bally, was a South African cricketer. He was an all-rounder who...
Balaskas is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: Janet Balaskas, South African author and childbirth educator Panayotis Balaskas (born...
batting than in their bowling, in the 1930s such as Bruce Mitchell, XenBalaskas, Ken Viljoen, Dudley Nourse, Eric Rowan, Alan Melville, Pieter van der...
Papakostas was a Greek revolutionary and veteran of the Second Boer War XenBalaskas (b. 1910 – d. 1994) - cricketer Stelio Savante – actor, producer and...
Michael Austen Faoud Bacchus Bryan Baguley Peter Bairnsfather-Cloete XenBalaskas Eddie Barlow Bradley Barnes Vincent Barnes Simon Base Derrin Bassage...
collision. Bennie Warren, 82, American Major League Baseball player. XenBalaskas, 83, South African cricket player. Sir Alfred Beit, 2nd Baronet, 91,...
innings: 6/27 by Hugh Tayfield, as above Best bowling in a match 10/158 by XenBalaskas for Transvaal v Rhodesia, 1945/46 List of cricket grounds in Zimbabwe...
bowler." Tomlinson played more first-class matches than expected because XenBalaskas was injured for much of the season, but his inability to seize his chances...
Global Information