Although Pegler only played a few first-class matches in South Africa between 1908 and 1910, he was chosen for South Africa's first Test tour of 1910/1911 and immediately established himself as a Test regular, although the extremely hard Australian wickets were as difficult for him as they were for the much-acclaimed "googly" trio of Vogler, Schwarz and Aubrey Faulkner.

He took twenty-nine wickets in the six Tests despite the fact that South Africa only once bowled through two full innings owing to their being outclassed against both England and Australia.

[1] Pegler's bowling was chiefly focused on a medium-paced leg-cutter which was not tossed high in the air[2] but he had several variations including a break-back and a faster ball[2] - both of which obtained many wickets during his successful 1912 campaign.

However, his appointment as a colonial District Commissioner in Nyasaland around this time [3] meant that Pegler was never able to return to South Africa after playing one match for Transvaal at the beginning of 1913.

Consequently, his only Test cricket after 1912 was on the 1924 tour, for which he was not even an original selection[3] but where he was nonetheless much more successful than such bowlers as Buster Nupen, who had acquired a remarkable reputation on matting pitches.