Education
He was educated at Plumtree School, and was selected for South Africa Schools in 1954. He attended the University of Cape Town and was selected for South African Universities against the Australian touring team in 1957-1958.
He was educated at Plumtree School, and was selected for South Africa Schools in 1954. He attended the University of Cape Town and was selected for South African Universities against the Australian touring team in 1957-1958.
As well as playing for Rhodesia and Western Province, he played first-class cricket for Oxford University and Northamptonshire. Christopher Martin-Jenkins described him as "spasmodically brilliant". An off-spin bowler and useful batsman at various positions in the order, David Pithey made his first-class debut for Rhodesia in 1956-1957.
He took 5 for 105 in the first innings and scored 40 in the second innings to help his side avoid defeat.
He played regularly in domestic cricket before winning a Rhodes Scholarship and taking up studies at Oxford University in 1959. He played 37 first-class matches for the university team in 1960, 1961 and 1962, hitting his first century, 133 against Glamorgan at Oxford in May 1961, when he opened the batting.
He took his career-best figures of 7 for 47 (off 27 overs) against the Australian touring team two weeks later, also at Oxford, in what Wisden described as a "devastating spell" in which he "perplexed the Australians". In 1962 he appeared briefly for Northamptonshire in the County Championship, and also played for the Gentlemen in the last Gentlemen v Players match to be played at Lord"son
Along with his cricket blue for Oxford he also gained a hockey blue.
Against North-Eastern Transvaal at Pretoria, opening the batting, he hit his highest first-class score of 166. Along with his fellow off-spinner Kelly Seymour he was selected for the tour to Australasia in 1963-1964. He took 11 wickets at 34.09 in the matches leading up to the First Test and was selected for the first three Tests, but failed to take a wicket, scored only 39 runs at 7.80 batting at number eight, and lost his place to Seymour.
He was unlucky in the second innings of the Third Test in Sydney, when several catches were dropped off his bowling.
He regained his spot in the three Tests in New Zealand, where he took 12 wickets at 18.66, including his best Test figures of 6 for 58 in the second innings of the Second Test at Dunedin. (lieutenant was the only occasion on which a South African spinner took six or more wickets in a Test innings in the 40 years between Hugh Tayfield, 6 for 78 in 1956-1957, and Paul Adams, 6 for 55 in 1996-1997)
He played in the North v.
South trial match at the end of the season. Selected for a South African XI in a match against the Australian touring team before the Test series in 1966-1967, he had match figures of 49.4–25–86–5 in an important victory for the home side.
He returned to the Test side for the Second and Third Tests.
In the second innings of the Second Test he made 55 (his next best Test score was 18), adding 86 for the eighth wicket with Peter Pollock to help give South Africa some chance of victory after they had had to follow on. However, he took no wickets in either Test and lost his place to Jackie du Preez. In his five Tests against Australia he had taken no wickets for 353 runs.