Batsman Matthew de Villiers was the Warriors’ second highest run-scorer – and eighth highest overall – in the 2024-25 4-Day Domestic Series, division one.
De Villiers collected 498 runs, including one century and three half-tons, for an average of 36. This included a first-class double-century against the Knights in Port Elizabeth. De Villiers also debuted with a player of the match performance in the One-Day Cup, division one.
This was de Villiers’ first full season as a professional cricketer. He was contracted by the Warriors after leaving Western Province.
“I wouldn’t have had this opportunity if Warriors head coach Robin Peterson hadn’t taken me out of Western Province. He has given me the opportunity to score runs in professional cricket,” de Villiers told the Full Quota Podcast.
“You can score a lot of runs in the level below, but Robin has since backed me and has helped me elevate to the next level. He has showcased me in some ways. I don’t think I would be a professional cricketer if someone didn’t take me out from where I was and give me this opportunity. He played a big role.”
Matthew de Villiers.
‘I just want to be the best of the best now’
De Villiers was among the top performers for the Western Province Colts and consistently among the highest run-scorers in the Western Province Cricket Association premier league for Claremont Cricket Club before being contracted by the Warriors. He has been retained by the Warriors for the 2025-26 domestic season in South Africa, too.
“Not making it actually makes you stronger in different ways. You end up wanting it a lot more than when you just get given it. In the moment, when you’re 22 years or 23 years old and you’re doing well, but you’re not getting rewarded for it, it can be extremely frustrating,” added the 24-year-old de Villiers.
“I think it takes a lot of character to know that you are good at something and that you are going to get your breakthrough eventually. Looking back, I was definitely frustrated in the moment, wondering why these guys were not picking me. I thought I was performing and doing what I must do to play at the highest level.
“I was not being rewarded and it could be very frustrating. At the end of the day, this has helped me become a better cricketer. I worked harder than everyone else. That can help you overtake people it got given to, eventually, down the line, if you want it enough. Now, what I have inside of me, is that grit to be better. I look back at my season and I say it’s not good enough. I think I could average 70 every season and still say it’s not good enough.
“I just want to be the best of the best now. That was always inside me. I just never really got that shot. Now that I have that shot, every opportunity is quite a big thing for me. It means a lot to me. Not that it doesn’t mean a lot for other players, but for me personally it’s a big thing. Now that I have this opportunity, I certainly do not take it for granted. This opportunity has created a different type of character in me than if I had just got this opportunity early on.”
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Matthew de Villiers.
‘I never had an ill feeling toward Western Province’
While de Villiers and former Western Province batsman Gavin Kaplan pursue professional careers at the Warriors and Boland, respectively, WP have contracted batsmen Joshua van Heerden and Jiveshan Pillay from the Titans and Warriors, respectively, for the 2025-26 season.
“Western Province is a tough one because of the volume of cricketers they get – from the ages of 18 years old to 40, even. You get a big variety of cricketers there. I don’t look back at Western Province and think badly about it,” continued de Villiers.
“If you’re looking for a young cricketer, there are a lot in the Colts, Academy, club cricket and in the professional set-up. I understood that. I never had an ill feeling toward Western Province. But I think the only problem was that they always told you they were thinking of you and the opportunity was coming, but I think they were saying that to 15 or 20 other players – that could lead you on. I don’t blame them. They really did have 15 or 20 other really talented cricketers to go on.
“There was never a chat from Western Province. Salieg Nackerdien never chatted to me at all. Justin Kemp came in a bit later. Justin had coached at Claremont Cricket Club, so he knew of me. But they didn’t see something in me that made them want to play me. At that time, it was probably between me and Gavin Kaplan.
“We were probably at the same level, if you were looking at stats specifically. Obviously they went with Gavin. Maybe they saw him as one of the players that could do better than me. I don’t blame them. Gavin is a really good cricketer who went through a similar period to myself – hit good runs, scored runs for the Colts and in club cricket.”
Pieter Strydom (right).
‘Cricket can teach you a lot of good qualities for real life’
De Villiers, who went to the same high school as former Proteas cricketers Jacques Kallis and Richard Levi, is the nephew of former South Africa all-rounder Pieter Strydom. He played two Tests and 10 ODIs from January to March 2000.
“My uncle, Pieter, played for South Africa back in the 2000s. He was also part of the Warriors, or Border as it was then. At the moment I’m half from Port Elizabeth and half Capetonian. He is a big role model for me, too. If I have a technical issue with my batting or whatever it may be, I go to him for advice,” said de Villiers.
“My father keeps track of my stats. He’s always phoning me, reminding me every single day what I’m averaging, what I’m scoring. I’ve always been quite competitive and could have been a saw loser back in the day. I get quite a kick out of winning. But as I’ve got older, cricket has developed me in a way I’ve quite enjoyed – it has developed me in good ways.
“Cricket can teach you a lot of good things like manners and sportsmanship – good qualities for real life. Shaun Hewett and then Eric Lefson coached me at Wynberg Boys’ High School. I was a seam bowler and Hewett used to tell me I take the ball away from the right-handers elegantly – I will never forget that.
“Lefson was an incredibly influential coach. He was hard and harsh at times. Guys rose to it or sulked about it. You could score a century and he’d tell you it’s the ugliest century he’d ever seen. But he had a big influence of a lot of guys who have since gone on to play for the Proteas – David Bedingham, Kyle Verreynne, Jason Smith and others. I probably wouldn’t be where I am today were it not for Lefson. He shaped my cricket in a lot of ways.”
Shaun Hewett (left) and Eric Lefson (right).