Internationally, Hall was initially thought of solely as a limited overs cricket specialist and made his ODI debut against the West Indies at Durban in 1999.
During the 2003 England tour he received a late call-up to the South African squad and impressed with 16 wickets in the Test series.
[4][5][6] In 2004, due to the absence of the recently retired Gary Kirsten and non-touring Herschelle Gibbs, he was promoted to open the batting in the Test series against India.
[7] The century was made against the likes of Anil Kumble and Harbhajan Singh, batting for almost ten hours.
[8][9][10] He holds the World Record 8th wicket stand in ODI cricket of 138 with Justin Kemp, made against India in November 2006.
[11][12] During the 2007 Cricket World Cup in the West Indies he took his maiden 5 wicket haul (5/18) against England on 17 April at the Kensington Oval, Bridgetown, Barbados.
Whilst not giving a reason for his decision, Graham Ford - Hall's coach at Kent - speculated it was due to his omission from the 2007 Twenty20 World Championship squad, saying:[15] I can only assume that he was reacting to the bitter disappointment of being left out of the World Cup [Championship] squad.Hall played for Durham Cricket Board in the 1999 NatWest Trophy, his first experience in English County Cricket.