Widely known as the gentleman’s game, cricket pits batsman against bowler. It’s a skill between bat and ball making bowling and batting specialist capabilities.
Enter Jonty Rhodes…his exploits on the oval elevated fielding to dizzy heights and placed it on par as the other components of the game in terms of importance and influence.
Suddenly a fielder could be a match winner, even on a global stage. Because of his immense talent, South Africa realists this quite early. In the process, Jonty catapulted those who occupied the backward point fielding position into rockstars of the game.
Thrust into the deep end immediately after South Africa’s readmission into the world cricket fraternity, Jonty Rhodes shot into superstardom at the 1992 cricket World Cup hosted jointly by the antipode neighbours Australia and New Zealand.
Being the perfectionist that he was as a premium fielder, Rhodes was not quite satisfied with his throwing at the stumps while practicing.
When a run out opportunity presented itself against Pakistan, Jonty did the unthinkable. Instead of taking a shy at the stumps, he opted to sprint towards the stumps and at the last minute, seeing that the Pakistan batter would make it to the crease safely, he launched himself and flung his agile frame towards the stumps and flattened them with his hands and body knocking the bails off.
The world came to a standstill, if only for a second. A few moments later the umpire’s finger went up signaling that Inzamam had been run out. Rhodes’s gamble had paid off.
Spectacular as that moment was, it was merely a prelude of what was to come from a magical South African fielding unit led by Rhodes.
That very moment etched South Africa’s imagination and unfathomable feats forever in the memories of the rest of the world’s countries.
Because if that breathtaking run out, interest in the game gained momentum and for the first time in decades the country was united if for only a fleeting moment.
Jonty Rhodes’s dive captured the very essence of being South African by conquering adversity against all odds 🙏🏾
Discover more from Pan Afrikan Comix 2085 Series
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.