When you google Jonty Rhodes — the first question you come across is “Has Jonty Rhodes ever dropped a catch?” and the answer is equally astonishing!
Rhodes dropped the catch and in the process broke his hand.
Widely recognised in the cricketing fraternity as one of the best fielders the world has ever seen, Jonty has left us with a lot of memorable catches still haunting us with the question “If he has the flight of Superman and the flexibility of Spiderman?”
Fielding, one of the three aspects in cricket was not given as much importance as batting or bowling until this man showed up. Jonty announced himself on the world stage when he flung in the air and ran-out Inzamam-Ul-Haq in the 1992 World Cup game against Pakistan. He was very agile, thanks to playing hockey in his younger days, and made the backward point region a very important position in the field.
Equivalently Jonty was also a great middle-order batsman who led South Africa to some memorable wins in the late ’90s. Rhodes made his Test debut against India in the first Test of the “Friendship Tour” at his home ground in Kingsmead, Durban on 13 November 1992, scoring 41 in the first innings and 26 not out in the second.
Rhodes scored his first Test century against Sri Lanka at Moratuwa during the 1993–1994 season. Batting on the last day, Rhodes scored 101 not out and along with Clive Eksteen salvaged a draw. South Africa went on to win the series 1–0 by winning the second match and drawing the third.
For the first few years, he made it to the team only because of his fielding prowess but he soon realised that he had to contribute with the bat as well. A complete change in his batting technique, helped him improve his skills as a batsman. After the change, he averaged more than 50 in Tests and in ODIs he was a innovative, and was one of the first batsman to play the reverse-sweep.
Off the field, Rhodes was also one of the first cricketers to take paternity leave, he took a semi-retirement when his daughter was born. At one stage in his career, Jonty had more endorsements than any other team-sports player in South Africa. An unfortunate fracture on the finger during the 2003 World Cup cut-short his career. He soon retired and went on to play for Gloucestershire in County Cricket.
Post-retirement, Jonty Rhodes signed up as head coach of the Sweden national side. The Swedish Cricket Federation bought in Jonty with broader plans to invest in junior cricket and high performance in the country. The team has shown considerable signs of improvement since Jonty’s takeover.
I am really excited to relocate to Sweden with my family and work together with the Swedish Cricket community. This opportunity has come at a perfect time and I am grateful to be able to invest my energies in a completely new environment. — Jonty Rhodes
CricClubs is glad to announce that Jonty Rhodes has been roped in as the global brand ambassador of the company.
CricClubs one of the leading cricket technology platforms that helps the league administrator, players, team managers, to manage, follow and experience cricket like never before. CricClubs is working closely with 25+ NGB along with 20,000+ leagues, 40,000+ tournaments, 3Mn+ players in 58+ countries and growing daily. CricClubs is known for ease of navigation, comprehensive league management and is absolutely loved by our users.
Jonty Rhodes being added as the global brand ambassador will be highly beneficial for CricClubs as the huge fanbase of the South African legend will attract a lot of users to the cricket technology company which will enhance their global outreach in the process.
CricClubs has been making life easy for cricket fans with its easy-to-access user interface and providing every insight on cricket, free of cost. CricClubs is a sure short hit for cricket fans all around the world.
The deal with Jonty came after CricClubs’ decision to go global and the way to enhance their outreach worldwide came through the former South African cricketer being added as the brand ambassador of the company.
Jonty will be helping CricClubs run theme-affiliated initiatives and even bringing in more stakeholders in the form of cricketing legends.
For more information on CricClubs and our products, check out our website https://www.cricclubs.com/ Register your league for FREE and try out our platform to manage your leagues and academies.
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