John Desmond Nel (born 10 July 1928 in Cape Town, Cape Province) is a former South Africancricketer who played in six Tests from 1949 to 1957. He has three sons Paul, Andrew and John who live in South Africa (Cape Town and Durban) and one daughter who now lives in New Zealand. All of his sons went to Rondebosch Junior and High school. He played many First-class games scoring the highest in his team on many occasions.