Dave Richardson - South Africa - Batsman

South Africa have always been well served with fantastic wicket-keepers. It all started with Dave Richardson, who took over from Rey Jennings and was a permanent member of the side. He was there when South African came back into international cricket in 1991-92 and played for seven more years. He hung up his gloves in 1998, after which Mark Boucher took over the legacy.

Richardson was an immaculate keeper and also had the perfect technique. When you have bowlers like Donald, Pollock, McMillan you would want your stumper to be the best and Richardson was among the best wicket-keepers in his era. He held onto 150 catches in 42 Tests and also 148 in 122 ODIs. Coming from the old school of batting, Richardson was more than a handy batsman, who put a high price on his wicket. His only hundred came against New Zealand at Cape Town in 1994.

Richardson was a lawyer by profession. His views on cricket were admired all over the world. The ICC appointed him as the General Manager in 2002, he was the first to occupy that position. A decade later he was made the Chief Executive Officer.


by Akshay Maanay
As of May 2014