Jonty Rhodes

The Jonty Rhodes legend began with the diving run-out of Inzamam-ul-Haq during the 1992 World Cup and grew from there until he deservedly came to be regarded as one of the greatest fielders of all time.

Rhodes, a hockey international who was picked for the Olympic Games in 1996 (an offer he had to refuse) was also a batter of no mean skill - particularly after he overhauled that aspect of his game in 1997, and from mid-1998 he averaged 45 in Tests for the rest of his career.

In an era before T20 made athletic fielding par for the course, nobody fielded better in the key white-ball position of backward point, where Rhodes leapt like a salmon and stopped singles by reputation alone. In contrast, when batting himself, he made a name with his ability to steal quick runs. His willingness to experiment and adapt enabled him to lead the way with the reverse sweep under coach Bob Woolmer's tutelage.

Rhodes' first ODI hundred came four years into his international career, in 1996, but he kept his standards high after that. In the 12 months leading up to his last game, in the 2003 World Cup, he made an unbeaten hundred against New Zealand in the VB Series in Australia, which South Africa won. Two months on, he made four fifties in a row against the formidable Australia side of his day. In the end, his ODI average of 35 was not half-bad for someone who batted mostly at Nos. 5 and 6.

Similarly, in Tests he held his own in an all-time great side that featured the likes of Kirsten, Kallis, Cullinan, Gibbs and McMIllan, with vital contributions from No. 6. His finest hour came in 1998, in the hard-fought away series against England, where he contributed 95 in Birmingham, followed by a hundred in the win at Lord's, and a defiant 85 that took South Africa to the brink of what would have been a thrilling, series-winning victory at Headingley. When West Indies came visiting late that year, Rhodes' 87 in Durban was followed by a breakneck (for the age) hundred in Centurion, which applied the coup de grace on the 5-0 drubbing.