In 1814, the Cape Colony was formally ceded to Britain by the Dutch after two previous occupations by British forces during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars.

It is believed that cricket was first introduced to South Africa during the first occupation, an expedition led by General Sir James Craig.

An accompanying officer, Charles Anguish, had been an early member of the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC), playing 32 first-class matches before he departed for the Cape in 1795.

The wickets are to be pitched at 10 o'clock.”The first club known to have been formally established was at Port Elizabeth in 1843, with the land allocated still in use today as St George’s Park.

Two major venues were presented, Newlands in Cape Town and the Old Wanderers in Johannesburg, and an English team arrived for the first overseas tour of South Africa.

Sir Donald Currie, the founder of the Castle Shipping Line who had sponsored the English tour, donated a trophy for the domestic champions.

Responsible for the formulation of rules, regulation and overall governance of international matches played between Australia, England and South Africa.

On 15 June 1909, representatives from Australia, England and South Africa met at Lord’s and founded the Imperial Cricket Conference.

The introduction of apartheid (separation of racial groups by strict legal enforcement) following the 1948 General Election did not immediately affect the sport, and it continued to prosper and welcome visiting teams.

Despite the rules being changed to allow "associate members" in 1964, South Africa did not reapply but continued to play against Australia, England and New Zealand without much difficulty.

[3] As decolonisation accelerated, and international moral public opinion began to change away ideas of racial, particularly white, superiority, South Africa became increasingly isolated.

[4] This decision, arguably when South Africa was the strongest team in the world, cut short the Test careers of hugely talented players, such as Graeme Pollock, Barry Richards and Mike Procter.

Players joining ‘rebel tours’ ran considerable risks to their own careers and reputations, with many facing a limited or lifetime ban from cricket upon their return.

As an incentive, at a time when cricketers were not paid a great deal, the SACU offered substantial amounts of money to rebel teams.

During the rest of the decade and early 21st Century, the national side gained a reputation as "chokers" and underachievers due to reaching the semi-finals of the World Cup four times but failing to progress, despite having hugely talented players, such as Hansie Cronje, as well as favourable win percentages.

Cape Cobras, the Eagles (later the Knights), the Warriors, the Lions, the Titans and the Dolphins were created and now represented the highest form of domestic cricket, both in first-class and limited-overs.

In July 2006, Ashwell Prince at the age of 29, became the first non-white man to captain the South African cricket team when he deputised for Graeme Smith.

Racial quotas were first introduced and later rescinded in 2007, although were re-established in 2016, despite being highly controversial, particularly criticised by the Institute of Race Relations in South Africa.

Although major silverware has consistently eluded the team, the early 2010s saw a period of Test dominance, achieving top position in the ICC rankings in 2012.

[14] In December 2019, CEO Thabang Moroe was suspended pending the outcome of an independent forensic audit, before being dismissed in August 2020 for "serious misconduct".

[16] Since the first reports came to light of the severe mismanagement, the organisation has come under heavy criticism from sponsors, players, and the wider cricket community over governance issues.

The International Cricket Council has announced it could suspend South Africa due to government interference in the sport, which is against ICC rules.

Further developing the women’s game at a high level, CSA has said that the competition will allow top performing players from across the under-19s and provincial cricket to continue and improve domestic standards, as well as ultimately strengthening the national limited-over sides.

As the vast majority of South African schools do not have the financially expensive, but necessary, cricket support infrastructure in place, CSA provides multiple regional and district programs, often via their Performance Centres.

Omar Henry became the first Coloured person to play a Test match for South Africa in 1992, with Makhaya Ntini being the first black African in 1998.

Originally seen as a game for "white gentlemen" only, the country has since spawned skillful cricketers who are people of colour, such as Vernon Philander, Kagiso Rabada, Keshav Maharaj, Tabraiz Shamsi, Reeza Hendricks and Lungi Ngidi.