Jonty Rhodes is remembered for his electrifying fielding, but he was also a fine Test batsman. In 1999, he was named a Wisden Cricketer of the Year.
Jonty Rhodes played on for South Africa until 2003 in one-day cricket. He made 52 Test appearances, scoring 2,532 runs at 35.66. In 245 ODIs, he hit 5,935 runs at 35.11
There were many sceptics when 22-year-old Jonty Rhodes was selected for South Africa’s 1992 World Cup squad. He could field, but could he bat? At best, he was regarded as someone who might be useful in a one-day team. Rhodes, however, was already thinking ahead and said his ambition was to be a good Test player.
Six years later, on South Africa’s first full tour of England in nearly 40 years, cricket followers in both countries thrilled to the best of him. By now, he was accepted as the best outfielder in cricket – if anything, better than he was as a youngster – and indispensable in one-day cricket. It was Rhodes the batsman who was a revelation. He scored 367 runs in five Tests against England at an average of 52.42, despite being unlucky with three umpiring decisions.
Three of his innings were memorable. He made his team’s top score, 95, at Edgbaston, and took South Africa to safety with positive strokeplay. He played even better at Lord’s, where he hit 117, his second Test century, and with Hansie Cronje steered South Africa from the peril of 46 for four to a platform from which they gained a crushing win. In the deciding Test at Headingley, he made a glorious 85, which helped South Africa from 27 for five to the brink of an improbable – but ultimately unattainable – triumph.
As he nears his 30th birthday, he admits there is a physical toll. “I enjoy diving, but when I use both hands I land on my chest and it causes whiplash to my neck. I visit a chiropractor once a month. There will come a time when the body says ‘no more’. Before regaining his Test place, he thought the 1999 World Cup might be his swansong, but now he will take each season as it comes. Enjoyment is paramount. “It is a game,” he says. “I play cricket because I love it.”
Religion, though, is crucial in his life. He says he will always walk if he knows he is out, and recall a batsman if he takes a catch on the bounce. “The Lord doesn’t like cheating,” he says. Such a policy makes bad decisions doubly cruel, but Rhodes says: “Averages are not everything, it’s also about that old thing of how you played the game.” In 1998, Jonty Rhodes played it exceedingly well.
