Book Description

South Africa has produced more great cricket all-rounders than any other country. A century ago there was Jimmy Sinclair, the first man from any country to score a century and take six wickets in an innings in a Test match; and Aubrey Faulkner, still the only man with a Test batting average over 40 and a bowling average under 30. In the 1950s and 1960s, there was Trevor Goddard, opening batsman and the most economical bowler in Test history. And then came the brilliant era of Eddie Barlow, Tiger Lance, Mike Procter and Clive Rice (as well as Tony Greig and Basil D'Oliveira, South Africans who played for England). A great tradition was established for the modern era: Brian McMillan, Shaun Pollock, Lance Klusener and, perhaps the greatest of them all after Sir Garfield Sobers, Jacques Kallis. These are the 13 men who were worth two players in one, capable of winning a place as batsmen or bowlers, adored by the fans, and capable of changing a game with either skill. Now their careers and exploits are examined for the first time in one book - as are those of four players who, but for apartheid, might have been acknowledged as their equals: Taliep Salie, Gesant "Tiny" Abed, Cecil "Cec" Abrahams and Sulaiman "Dik" Abed.