Rusty Theron

The seam bowler from the Eastern Cape made his name as a last-over specialist in the 2009-10 Standard Bank Pro20. His secret is nothing overly complicated. He bowls full and straight most of the time and mixes things up with the odd slower ball. Theron's cricketing prowess was recognised in primary school. As soon as he was identified as a talent he received a bursary to Grey High School in Port Elizabeth, a training ground for many cricketing greats such as Graeme Pollock, Peter Pollock, Johan Botha and Wayne Parnell. He made his first-class debut in November 2005 and took 60 wickets at 18.26 in his first 15 matches. He topped the first-class and List A bowling rankings for the Warriors almost every season since then. His performance in the limited-overs form of the game has also been exceptional. Theron was awarded the MTN Domestic Championship Cricketer of the Year in 2008.

He has not been without his problems though. In October 2009, he was reported for a suspect action during a first-class game against the Lions and was cleared eight days later. The season went on to be the one that would launch Theron into the big time. He won at least two out of eight matches for the Warriors in the last over, including the first leg semi-final against the Cobras in which he defended eight runs. He was awarded a contract by Cricket South Africa in February 2010, despite having never played a match for the national side. That was followed by an IPL contract with Kings XI Punjab. Within hours of landing in India, he picked up the Man-of-the-Match award on debut in a thriller which went down to the Super Over. He has been included in South Africa's shortened, 18-man squad for the ICC World Twenty20 in the West Indies in May.
Firdose Moonda March 2010