Jonathan Neil “Jonty” Rhodes was born 27 July 1969 in Pietermaritzburg is a former South African Test and One Day International cricketer who played for the South African cricket team between 1992 and 2003.
Jonty shot to fame in the 1992 World Cup when he dived into the stumps ball in hand, to run out the Pakistani batsman Inzimam Ul-Haq.
Life for Jonty suddenly changed. It was interview after interview, jet-setting from one country to the next with cricket suprem Ali Bacher. “All of a sudden I found myself giving talks, going to conferences, overnight my life changed”, said Jonty
Jonty Rhodes has seen four Cricket World Cups, something he had never thought possible. In fact, he had not expected to play in a single match because of the threat of expulsion of South Africa from World Cricket due to the political situation in this country.
In the 2003 Cricket World Cup, a hand injury ended Jonty’s career. He retired from international cricket with record 2,532 runs in 52 tests and 5,935 in 245 one-dayers.
Although his retirement was not part of the script that he had envisaged for himself, Jonty sees his run in cricket as a blessing because when he left school in 1988 there was little hope of him playing. Post-retirement, he has worked variously as a fielding and batting coach for the Mumbai Indians and the South African and Kenyan national teams.