AB de Villiers debunks myth he was child sports prodigy

South African captain AB de Villiers. Photo / Mark Mitchell

It's all hokum - and that's straight from the horse's mouth.

South African cricket superstar AB de Villiers has officially debunked the myth that he was an allround sports prodigy at school.

Earlier this year, a story emerged out of the republic that as a schoolboy he had held South African national records in swimming and athletics, was a tennis and badminton prodigy, a standout junior rugby and soccer player, as well as playing off a scratch handicap in golf.

But de Villiers has revealed in his autobiography, AB: The Autobiography, that the claims are "falsehoods and exaggerations".

"I played hockey for one year at high school ... but I was never shortlisted for the national hockey squad, or ever came remotely close to that level," de Villiers wrote.

"I have never played any organised football (soccer). We used to kick a ball around during break at school and the game has become part of the Proteas' warm-up routine. That is all.

"I never represented South Africa (in rugby) at any level ... and was never captain.

"I never played badminton at school. If my memory is correct, I have only ever played one game of badminton in my entire life, and that was just a fun game with (former South Africa wicketkeeper) Mark Boucher.

"I did get my official handicap down to a respectable one when I was 15 but there's not much time to play golf these days and my handicap has drifted to nine."

Media outlets around the world, including the Herald, published the claims.

But while de Villiers dispelled some of the myths around his alleged superhuman talents, he did concede he showed promise in a few other sports.

"These are the facts: decent at golf, useful at rugby and tennis when I was young, and enjoying cricket ever since," he said.

"The errors will doubtless remain on the Internet and people will continue to believe I was some kind of prodigy at all those different sports, but the truth will hopefully somehow endure."