Today we bring you part three in our series of the Top 50 post-isolation
Proteas stars.
Ranked from 30 to 21, this list includes a disgraced former national captain, a bowler the whole world had trouble reading, a seamer who changed personalities when he stepped onto the pitch... enjoy!
30 Andre Nel (36 Tests, 79 ODIS, 2 T20Is)
ONE of the most colourful characters in SA cricket, Nel morphed into “Gunther” whenever he took the field.
A tall fast bowler, he was intimidating on the field and took a total of 231 overall wickets for SA - 11th on the all-time list.
In Tests he took 123 wickets and 106 in ODIs.
29 Neil McKenzie (58 Tests, 64 ODIs, 2 T20Is)
STILL holds the SA record for the highest opening-wicket stand alongside then-captain Graeme Smith when they put on 415 in Bangladesh in 2007/08, McKenzie was known for his resilience.
In fact when looking at the list of SA Test records and in particular highest partnerships, his name pops up twice.
McKenzie also shares the highest partnership for the eighth wicket with Shaun Pollock, having scored 150 against Sri Lanka at Centurion Park in 2000/01.
There was nothing fancy about the way he went about his business on the pitch, but McKenzie got the job done and averaged 37 in both ODIs and Tests.
28 Ashwell Prince (66 Tests, 52 ODIs, 1 T20I)
IF YOU were a left-handed batsman a decade or so ago, you could do a lot worse than trying to emulate the current Cape Cobras coach.
Prince’s technique was simply top notch, while he had the
composure to wait for the bad balls and then punish them.
A true Test cricketer, he averaged 41.64 in this format and scored 11 fifties and exactly as many hundreds.
That last stat is a testament to the fact that once Prince got stuck in, there was no removing him.
SOLID AS OAK: Ashwin Prince
27 Boeta Dippenaar (38 Tests, 107 ODIs, 1 T20I)
OPENING batsman Boeta Dippenaar was not the most exciting player to watch, but he was one of the more reliable ones.
A man you can build your innings around, Dippenaar averaged an incredible 44 in 101 ODIs.
Amassing a total of 3 300 runs in the process, he scored four centuries and 26 fifties. The embodiment of composure, the Free State man was a quality opener that hardly failed to see out the new ball.
26 David Miller (132 ODIs, 78 T20Is)
THIRD on the all-time run-scorers list in T20I cricket, Miller is one of only four South Africans to have crossed the three-figure mark in 20-over cricket.
Only behind JP Duminy and AB de Villiers, Miller is on this list for his exploits in T20 cricket where he has already scored 1 368 runs at an average touching 30.
It’s the rate at which he scores his runs that has had a big impact on the SA team in this format of the game, though.
Of players who have played more than 15 matches for SA, Miller comes in second to Albie Morkel in terms of strike rate, averaging 1.39 runs per ball.
Not only is he one of the country’s top T20 players, but Miller also averages 40.38 in ODI cricket where he has scored five centuries and 14 fifties.
25 Nicky Boje (43 Tests, 115 ODIs, 1 T20I)
WHILE Boje will be remembered as a spin bowler, he was actually seen as a future star batsman in his teens.
Still, he worked hard to prove that he is a real top-order batsman and was promoted from No.9 to batting at No.3 for the Proteas in limited-overs cricket in no fewer than 18 matches.
In it, he averaged 39.35 and scored two hundreds - both in a home series against New Zealand in 2000.
With 197 wickets in all formats for South Africa, Boje is 12th on the all-time wicket-taker’s list with only Imran Tahir out-spinning him with 291 wickets.
24 Fanie de Villiers (18 Tests, 83 ODIs)
THOSE of you who watched South Africa’s New Year’s Test against Australia in 1994 will remember one of the best individual performances in the Proteas kit ever.
The writing was on the wall for the Proteas, with Australia needing only 117 runs in the fourth innings to win the match at the Sydney Cricket Ground.
There was no way the visitors were going to bowl out a team that included the likes of Mark Waugh, David Boon and Alan Border that cheaply.
Playing in only his second Test, De Villiers didn’t quite understand that South Africa were supposed to lose.
He then delivered one of the best bowling performances of our time to take 6/43 and bowl out Australia for 111.
SWING KING: Fanie de Villiers
De Villiers was carried off on the shoulders of his teammates in one of the most iconic images in South African sport.
A superb swing bowler that could manipulate the ball at will, Vinnige Fanie took 85 Test wickets and 95 ODI scalps for a total of 180 victims, placing him 13th on the overall list of SA wicket taker's.
23 Darryll Cullinan (70 Tests, 138 ODIs)
ONE of the most talented
batsmen of the early 90s, Cullinan was a joy to watch.
A no-nonsense No.4 batsman, Cullinan bowed out with a Test average of 44.21, having scored 14 centuries and 20 fifties and also held the record for SA's highest Test score at one stage with an unbeaten knock of 275 against New Zealand in Auckland in 1999.
Cullinan also had famous duels with Australian spinner Shane Warne, who unfortunately got the better of the South African on most occasions.
Still, he will go down as one of the big guns of South African cricket.
Furthermore, he ranks eighth on SA’s all-time Test run-scorer's list with a total of 4 544.
22 Paul Adams (45 Tests, 24 ODIs)
SOUTH African cricket’s Christmas gift to fans in 1995 was the introduction of one Paul “Gogga” Adams to the Test arena.
The then-18-year-old had the whole South Africa glued to the TV screens to see him in action in that Port Elizabeth Test against England.
It was his unusual bowling action that attracted fans to Adams, who claimed England captain Mike Atherton as his first victim in that match.
DIE GOGGA BYT: Paul Adams
The popular Kaapenaar's bowling action was difficult to figure out, but even after batsmen got used to it he was still a big threat with the ability to spin the ball both ways.
He ended up taking 134 Test wickets - still the most by a South African spinner - at a healthy average of 32.87, while also claiming 29 scalps in ODIs at 28.10.
21 Hansie Cronje (68 Tests, 188 ODIs)
DISGRACED former skipper
Hansie Cronje will be remembered for all the wrong reasons in South Africa after being found guilty of match-fixing in the biggest sports scandal to hit our shores post-isolation.
But before that, there was a time when Hansie was loved by all South Africans - especially when he got down on one knee to slog-sweep Shane Warne out of the ground.
FALLEN IDOL: Hansie Cronje
A * under-rated allrounder, Cronje was one of the best players of spin in South Africa and had the ability to take wickets at crucial times.
On top of that, the late Free-Stater was a good tactician as a captain and leader. And if it wasn’t for his shocking fall from grace, Cronje would no doubt have been much higher up on this list.
As it stands, he is still 10th on SA's overall run-scorer's list with 9 279 at an average of over 37.
That’s not all, he is also 10th on the ODI wicket-taker’s list with 114 scalps.
dudley.carstens@inl.co.za