David Teeger

David Teeger (born 11 January 2005) is a South African cricketer who plays age-group cricket representing South Africa national under-19 cricket team.

He made his debut in competitive top flight cricket during the 2023 CSA One-Day Cup.

Teeger is Jewish and observes Shabbat and Kashrut.

He takes his religion seriously and is willing to give up opportunities to observe it.

He has expressed the hope that his example can inspire religious sportsmen to also follow their dreams.

In 2023, he was head boy of King Edward VII School, the biggest boys school in Johannesburg.

He said that his leadership experience at the school allowed him to experience "the diversity, the love, the brotherhood" that exists in South Africa.

Something he said he experienced in the Jewish community as well.

The South Africa Emerging team played in division 2 of the 2023 CSA One-Day Cup; it was the first time the team had participated in the tournament, and the squad was constitute of players aged 18 to 23.

The squad included members of the South Africa under-19 team to give them greater experience.

Teeger made his List A debut on 28 September 2023, playing for South Africa Emerging Players side against North Cape in the 2023 CSA One-Day Cup.

He scored a half-century batting at number three position, scoring a 69-ball 51 including a six and a four.

South Africa Emerging won the division 2 final against Free State Knights.

Teeger scored 95 not out.

He was captain of the South Africa national under-19 cricket team during 2023.

He was relieved of the captaincy on 12 January 2024 by a controversial decision of Cricket South Africa (CSA).

He remained a member of the squad.

In October 2023, Teeger won the Rising Star award at the Jewish Achiever Awards.

At the awards ceremony he said that "the true rising stars are the young soldiers in Israel", and dedicated the award to "the South African family that married off one son while the other is still missing. And...to the state of Israel and every single soldier fighting so that we can live and thrive in the diaspora."

The South African family he referred to is that of Rabbi Doron Perez whose one son was injured during the 2023 Hamas-led attack on Israel but subsequently recovered and got married.

The rabbi's other son has been missing since the attack.

South African advocacy group Palestine Solidarity Alliance lodged a complaint against him for these utterances, saying that they were a "provocative and inflammatory political statement".

In response, Cricket South Africa appointed respected advocate Wim Trengove SC to perform an independent enquiry to establish whether Teeger had breached the code of conduct of either CSA or Central Gauteng Lions, the local provincial club for which he plays.

The investigation had three terms of reference, to determine whether or not Teeger:

Teeger's submission to Trengove stated that he did not believe Israel was committing genocide, a view he said was held by many people and governments worldwide.

He added that his words could, therefore, not be seen as supporting genocide, because he did not see Israel's actions as involving genocide.

In his findings Trengove quoted the Supreme Court of South Africa as having confirmed that hate speech was not protected under the right to freedom of speech in the constitution, but also emphasising that the expression of unpopular or offensive speech was not hate speech.

He found that Teeger's statements, while possibly offensive to some, were held by other South Africans, and that his audience clearly understood that he was expressing personal beliefs and not representing CSA's opinions.

On this basis he cleared Teeger of breaching the constitution or any of the codes of conduct.

CSA publicly accepted the investigation's findings on 7 December 2023 saying that they had been "received, considered, and accepted".

The Palestinian Solidarity Alliance continued to express its opinion that Teeger had created a "significant rift within the cricket community", and was not fit to lead the team.

They said that they would protest at the 2024 Under-19 Cricket World Cup, to be held in South Africa from 19 January 2024 to 11 February 2024, if he was not suspended from the squad.

In Trengove's report, he mentioned that Mr Azhar Saloojee, "a director" of Diadora South Africa, had said Diadora would not sponsor any matches in which Teeger participated.

Diadora is an Italian sportswear company.

After news reports of Diadora's boycott where published, Juan Carlos Venti, at Diadora Italy, distanced the company from Mr Saloojee, who he said was not connected to the company, and with whose comments the company did not agree.

In December 2023, Teeger was re-appointed to captain the South Africa national under-19 cricket team by Cricket South Africa.

He led the team in this capacity in a three-team tournament with India and Afghanistan in late December and early January, scoring 47 runs in four matches.

During the tournament, a group of pro-Palestine protesters peacefully protested Teeger's appointment.

They picketed outside the main gate of the Newlands Cricket Ground where the match was held.

They were subsequently moved to a specific area designated for protesters where they continued protesting with no incident.