Xen Balaskas
South African cricketer (1910-1994) · South Africa · On the map · Athletes · Died at 83
Xenophon Constantine Balaskas, sometimes known as Xen or Bally, was a South African cricketer. He was an all-rounder who went onto score 2,696 first-class cricket runs at 28.68 and went onto take 276 wickets at 24.11 with his crafty leg-spin bowling.
Xen Balaskas is read about 3 times a day, in 7 languages.
A typical day, 30 days to 23 June 2026
The middle day of the days counted, so one week of news cannot move it. The line under it is the last 60 days, one point a day.
Something wrong?People around Xen
Close ties
Norman Gordon Teammate at Gauteng cricket team, 1936-1946
Jock Cameron Teammate at South Africa national team, 1930-1935
Sandy Bell Teammate at South Africa national team, 1930-1935
Bruce Mitchell Teammate at South Africa national team, 1930-1938
Cyril Vincent Teammate at South Africa national team, 1930-1935
Eric Dalton Teammate at South Africa national team, 1930-1938- Buster Nupen Teammate at South Africa national team, 1930-1936
Jack Siedle Teammate at South Africa national team, 1930-1936
Ken Viljoen Teammate at South Africa national team, 1930-1938- Bob Newson Teammate at South Africa national team, 1930-1938
Edward van der Merwe Teammate at South Africa national team, 1930-1936
Career 5
Media & music
Photos 1
About this person
He was the first test cricketer as well as the first international cricketer whose name started with the English alphabetical letter "X". He was also fondly nicknamed as the "Saxophone" by his teammates. He played a pivotal role in South Africa's historic first ever test win in English soil.
