Jonathan Neil Rhodes

Profile:

Mostly unknown outside his home province of Natal, Jonty Rhodes stamped himself on the consciousness of world cricket at the Gabba on March 8, 1992 when he dived headfirst into the stumps to run out Inzamam-ul-Haq and halt a Pakistan surge towards victory. The moment was captured by a photographer and within 24 hours the picture had been flashed around the world. Life was never quite the same for Rhodes from that point on, but if nothing else, the photograph captured the determination and commitment of both the player and his team. By his own account, Rhodes is a scruffy batsman who grubs out his runs, sweeping furiously at the spinners and scampering impossible singles. This self-assessment is a little unfair because it omits a wonderful eye, quick hands and feet and the ability to wait on the ball. As a Test player Rhodes marked time in the mid-1990s until he made a triumphant return to the side during the 1998 tour of England with a century in South Africa's 10-wicket victory at Lord's. In the one-day side, however, Rhodes has been virtually ever-present, his ability to make quick runs and rotate the strike in the middle order matched only by his extraordinary fielding at cover point. It will be as a fielder that Rhodes will be remembered, someone who changed the nature of the art and inspired young players worldwide to start diving about in the outfield, dirtying their whites and irritating their mothers no end. As a junior, Rhodes was a wonderful footballer and his prowess at hockey was such that had South Africa qualified for Barcelona in 1992, he might well have played at a cricket World Cup and an Olympics in the same year. Now one of South Africa's elder statesman, Rhodes' fielding has lost little of its sharpness and he is a more accomplished batsman these days, capable against both pace and spin. He missed South Africa's tour of India in 2000, staying at home to support his wife Kate through the birth of their first child, but now that he is back in harness, there seems no reason why he should not play in his fourth World Cup in 2003.