Martin van Jaarsveld - South Africa - Batsman

van Jaarsveld is a top-order batsman who has compact technique and a much better temperament. He has a wide range of strokes which are all orthodox. It took a while for him to get noticed by the selectors, that moment came when he scored 1268 runs at an average of 74.58 in first-class during the 2001-02 season.

His performances were such that he would not be overlooked and hence got his first Test cap against Bangladesh at East London. A batsman who would had a good conversion rate of fifties into hundreds found it difficult at the international level. He only played a handful Tests and ODIs, 9 and 11 to be precise. van Jaarsveld scored only 3 Test fifties and none in the ODIs. This made the selectors look elsewhere.

van Jaarsveld then retired from international cricket and signed up with Kent in 2005. His best cricketing years came with them and even his highest first-class score (262*) was achieved while playing for Kent.


by Akshay Maanay
As of May 2014