Willoughby was thought as a prized addition to the South African pace attack which lacked in variety. A tall left-arm fast bowler who could swing the ball both ways and batted left-handed. It took the selectors six years to notice Willoughby before naming him in the South African squad for the tour of Sharjah in 1999-00.

He played very few cricket for his national side, 2 Tests and 3 ODIs to be precise but even those were never in a stretch. After playing against Pakistan in 1999-00, he was dropped until selected for the South Africa A tour to West Indies, where he took 10 wickets at 24.30. Willoughby then played against Bangladesh but soon was left out of the side.

Willoughby signed up for Leicestershire in 2005 and went onto play for Somerset as well in 2006. He helped them to promotion in 2007 season, where he picked up 66 wickets. It was announced in 2011 that Willoughby has joined Essex on a 2-year deal.


by Akshay Maanay
As of May 2014