Hylton Ackerman, former coach of the South African under-19 and A teams and an outstanding left-handed batsman in a distinguished career, passed away in Cape Town on Wednesday at the age of 62.
He had been in poor health for some time.
Cricket South Africa (CSA) president Dr Mtutuzeli Nyoka led the tributes. “Hylton made a tremendous contribution both to the development of the coaching profession in this country and to developing young players to make the Proteas the force they are in world cricket today.
“He coached the South African under-19 side to the runners-up spot at the 2002 junior World Cup in New Zealand -- a squad that included Hashim Amla, Imraan Khan and Johan Botha.
“There were other future international players who passed through his hands at South African A team level.
“Hylton had an almost unrivalled passion for the game and his contribution to South African cricket is something for which we will always be grateful.
“CSA would like to express our condolences to his family and friends. Our thoughts are with them.”
National coach Mickey Arthur echoed Dr Nyoka’s thoughts. “I don’t think I have ever met anybody who was more passionate about the game than Hylton and I will always cherish the conversations I had with him. He had a wonderful cricket brain and there are many cricketers who have benefited from his advice and wisdom.”
As a player Hylton made more than 12 000 first-class runs with 20 centuries. He was the youngest-ever capped SA Schools player at the age of 14 years and eight months and gave an early indication of his talent when he became the second South African schoolboy to score a first-class century against an official touring team (England in 1964-65). Coincidentally both these schoolboys (the other was R Byrom in 1926-27) attended Dale College.
He went on to represent Border, Natal, North Eastern Transvaal and Western Province plus having a four-year spell with Northamptonshire in the England county championship.
He led Western Province to the Currie Cup title in 1977-78 and played for a Rest of the World XI against Australia in 1971-72 when he opened the batting with Sunil Gavaskar and scored a century in the first representative match.
One of his greatest moments came when his son, Hylton Deon (HD), played in four tests for the Proteas against Pakistan and Sri Lanka in 1998 and he broke Barry Richards’s record for the leading runs aggregate in a South African first-class season.
He is survived by his wife, Dawn, who represented the former Rhodesia at swimming, his son and his daughter.
source supersport
Hylton Ackerman Passed Away 
Hylton 
