SUPER SPORTS MAN AB de Villiers
» Biography
THE BASICS
- Full Name: Abraham Benjamin de Villiers (prefers to be called AB)
- Nickname: Abbas
- Date of Birth: 17 February, 1984
- Star Sign: Aquarius
- Place of Birth: Warmbaths/Warmbad (now renamed Bela Bela), Transvaal Province
- Currently Resides: Pretoria, Gauteng Province
- Height: 178cm (5’10″)
- Family: Parents – Millie & Abraham Benjamin; and brothers – Jan & Wessels (9 years & 6 years older respectively)
- Marital status: Married to Danielle Swart (March 30, 2013)
- Schools Attended: AB went to primary school in Warmbaths, and then became a boarder at Afrikaans Hoër Seunskool.
- Occupation: South African cricketer and part-time musician (AB
writes songs, plays the guitar and released an album with Ampie du Preez
called, “Maak Jou Drome Waar” in August 2010.)
AB’s FAVOURITES
- Cricket Ground: SuperSport Park, Centurion (his home ground)
- Form of Cricket: Test Matches
- Food Indulgences: Pasta and seafood
- Drink: Passionfruit and soda
- Restaurant: Crawdaddy’s, Menlyn Park
- Sportsmen: Tiger Woods & Roger Federer
- Rugby Teams: Blue Bulls & Springboks
- Soccer Team: Manchester United
- School Subject: Biology
- Movies: “Gladiator” & “A River Runs Through It”
- Song: “Needs” by Collective Soul, & “All That I Have” by Snow Patrol
- Band: Snow Patrol
- Book: The Bible
- Actress: Kate Beckinsale
- Number: 17
MISCELLANEOUS
- Alternative career: “I would probably be a doctor like my dad, but I’ve never had the chance to study”.
- First job: carrying the drinks in the backyard while his brothers
played cricket. AB was 4 years old and his reward at the end of the day
was the chance to bat.
- Who he’d invite to dinner: Nelson Mandela, Tiger Woods, Roger
Federer & Kate Beckinsale. AB has also mentioned he’d invite Brad
Pitt (and maybe Angelina, too).
- Scared of: snakes
EARLY LIFE
Abraham
Benjamin de Villiers (more commonly known by his initials, AB) was born
on February 17, 1984 in Pretoria, Transvaal Province, South Africa. He
is the youngest of three sons born to parents Millie and Abraham
Benjamin (who AB is named after) – his older siblings being Jan (9 years
older) and Wessels (6 years older). His mother works in property, while
his father is a doctor with a general practice. AB was raised in the
small town of Warmbad, in the north of the country, where he attended
primary school. It was here that AB learned to play cricket in the
backyard with his brothers.
“When I was very young, I started playing cricket in the garden
against my older brothers, Jan and Wessels, and Martin van Jaarsveld
[who later played for the Titans and South Africa],” AB remembers. “I
had to carry the water and, after a long day, they would finally give me
my chance. I was a little ou and they were all in matric. They would
try to intimidate me. The bat was actually too heavy for me, and I would
rest it on the dustbin while they were walking back to their mark,” he
says. “They battled to get me out and they would get so frustrated that
they’d bowl a couple of beamers at me to see what I would do. Saturday
games at our house in Bela Bela were very competitive. My brothers were
merciless. They were monsters. There were always a lot of tears—usually
mine,” he laughs.
“I
decided when I was 10 that I was going to do something in sport one
day,” he said. “I realised then that that was my way to go. My mum and
dad are good at sports and I’ve got two older brothers who drilled into
me how to play. I’m six years younger they made it clear that if I
wanted to be involved I was going to get it, so every single game was
unbelievably competitive. We’re very competitive, my mum most of all,
and when we get on to a tennis court or golf course the family stops.
That’s how I grew up, every single day of my life I was playing
something, and from about 16 it was cricket. It’s part of the Afrikaans
culture, playing it hard and doing your best. But it’s very important to
stay humble, that was a very big part of my growing up, not getting
big-headed.”
AB went to Afrikaans Hoër Seunsskool in Pretoria, across the road
from Loftus Versfeld, where Jacques Rudolph was also a student.
AB is one of those boys who most of us knew at school and both
resented and wanted to be. He plays golf off a handicap of two, not
having had time to maintain his scratch rating, gave up tennis at the
age of 13 when he was in the national squad and did not want to leave
home to attend the Nick Bollettieri Academy in Florida, and had an offer
to play at fly-half for the Blue Bulls (provincial rugby team).
Actually, maybe he was better than the average bloke you knew at school.
If things have come easy to AB, he has inherited his culture’s work
ethic. Church and sport are twin religions. “Sundays in church, and
whenever I’ve got time off church, cricket and golf.”
MAKING HIS DREAMS COME TRUE
“I was eight years old when I saw Jonty’s world famous run out
against Australia in the 1992 World Cup. It really made an impression on
me. I remember thinking: this is a cool game! I started dreaming of
following in Jonty’s footsteps,” he says. Recognising their son’s
cricketing aptitude, AB’s parents decided to send their talented son to
Affies. “At that stage I participated in various sports and wasn’t sure
what I wanted to focus on. However, when I made the South African Colt
team at 16, I realised cricket was something I could pursue
professionally. I started working harder. I wanted to be the best in my
age group.”
While playing for the South African Schools Eleven, he was spotted by
the Titans’ coach Dave Nosworthy. Dave gave him a chance to play for
this team against Canada in a 2003 World Cup warm-up game. “It was the
first time that I played a televised game. I was very nervous, but I
thrive under pressure, especially if people are watching. Life is all
about grabbing opportunities. I grabbed the opportunity with both
hands,” he says.
He was a star of the South African Under-19 team in England in 2003,
and then played for the Carrickfergus Cricket Club in Northern Ireland
in 2004. AB says this was a big step in his life as it was the first
time he lived away from home. He had to learn to become independent and
self-sufficient.
Soon
after, AB played for the Northern Titans before being selected to play
Test cricket at the tender age of 20 years old. “I love Test cricket,”
AB said. “I love the intensity and the pressure, and when I was batting
at Durban I couldn’t hear the crowd. When you move from the provincial
side into the national side you’ve got doubts, but if the doubts get to
you you’ll struggle.”
“Making cricket my career and playing for the national squad are
dreams come true. We have been in a learning phase for the past few
years—and it has paid off. It’s all about consistency. In the past we
may have been guilty of not playing a consistent game. But we have
returned to the basics, we know and understand each other and we have
worked consistently towards the same goals. We have also stuck to the
same ‘brave’ brand of cricket.
[
Read more about AB's cricket career here.]
THE FUTURE
“Personally, I have grown as a player in the past two years. I have
found my feet on the field. Performing consistently has also been a
personal highlight for me and it remains my number one goal,” says AB.
However, he emphasises that his life isn’t just focused on cricket. Off
the field, AB loves spending time with his family and friends. He also
plays golf (off a five handicap), tennis and the guitar.
AB and a friend, Ampie du Preez released the motivational song ‘
Show Them Who You Are’
at the end of last year. This song became the anthem of the Proteas’
rise to victory against Australia. By early 2010, AB and Ampie are
hoping to release their first CD. “It has always been my dream to make
and record music. And we’re not merely dabbling in it—we’ve decided that
our CD can’t be anything but great,” says AB who also took piano
lessons and sang in the school choir in primary school.
[
Read more about AB's music here.]
In addition, he is a partner in his brothers’ fast food businesses.
They will soon start a catering business together. This move is part of
his long-term after-cricket strategy. When asked in an interview with
SA SportsIllustrated in
mid-2009, whether he could see himself playing until he was 40, AB
replied, “No. Not to 40. There is no chance. I think there is more to
life than just playing cricket for 25 years. I will definitely find the
right time to retire. When I start my family I am definitely going to
retire. I am not going to wait till I am 40.”
AB is also passionate about his involvement in Francois Pienaar’s
Make a Difference Foundation.
This organization gives underprivileged children the opportunity to
attend the country’s best schools, so he mentors one particular
youngster at school in Johannesburg and he donates 100% of his fee for
giving weekly radio interviews to M.A.D. He has even arranged to print,
at his own cost, postcards with a photograph and space for him to sign,
that he can carry in his cricket bag and hand out to the youngsters who
stand and wait, craving his autograph. “I am a devout Christian and
would like to pursue a goal in this regard one day. I’d like start an
initiative through which I can touch people’s lives and make the world a
better place in whatever way I can.
At this stage, it is still just a dream, but I see it as the measure
of true success. I can’t just live for myself.” When talking to AB you
get the feeling that it is only a matter of time before this dream also
becomes a reality. Realising goals is all about self belief and hard
work, he says. “Success is 99% self belief. You have to be confident in
your abilities. And hard work comes naturally if you have a passion for
something.”
