ICC KnockOut Trophy 1998: Where are the players of the victorious South Africa team now?
The first edition of the ICC KnockOut Trophy was held in Bangladesh in the year 1998. The coveted tournament was considered a mini World Cup, as all the Test-playing nations participated in it.
South Africa won the 1998 ICC KnockOut Trophy by defeating England in the quarter-finals, Sri Lanka in the semi-finals, and West Indies in the final. The ICC KnockOut Trophy is the only ICC trophy won by the South African team to date.
It has been 22 years since South Africa won the 1998 ICC KnockOut Trophy. Here is a look at what the members of the victorious squad are engaged in at present.
1998 ICC KnockOut Trophy Winners: Where are they now?
#1. The late Hansie Cronje:
The late Hansie Cronje captained South Africa to glory in the 1998 ICC Knockout Trophy, and is the only South African skipper to win an ICC Trophy to date.
Cronje had a decent tournament and was the fifth-highest run-scorer in the mega event. He averaged 74 with the bat, and had 2 half-centuries to his credit in the 1998 ICC KnockOut Trophy- in the quarter-finals and the finals.
He continued playing cricket for South Africa till the year 2000, when he was banned for life from cricket for his role in match-fixing. He unfortunately died in a plane crash in the year 2002.
#2. Jacques Kallis:
Jacques Kallis was the Man of the Series in the 1998 ICC KnockOut Trophy.
He averaged 82 with the bat and was the second-highest run-scorer in the tournament. He scored a brilliant century against Sri Lanka in the semi-finals which led South Africa to victory. The all-rounder also picked up 8 wickets in the tournament, which included a 5 wicket haul against West Indies in the finals.
Kallis was a prolific player for South Africa in both Tests as well as ODIs, and is one of the best all-rounders the game of cricket has seen. He is the only cricketer to score over 10000 runs and pick up over 250 wickets, in Tests as well as in ODI cricket.
He retired from international cricket in the year 2014. He was appointed the head coach of the Kolkata Knight Riders team in October 2015.
At present, he is the batting consultant of the South Africa national cricket team, and will look to pass his skills on to the younger generation of South African batsmen.
#3. Daryll Cullinan:
Daryll Cullinan opened the batting for South Africa in the 1998 ICC KnockOut Trophy. He averaged 40 over the course of the tournament, and scored 120 runs in 3 innings. This included a well-compiled half-century against England in the quarter-finals.
The right-handed batsman played 70 Tests and 138 ODIs for South Africa, and retired from international cricket in the year 2001. He scored 17 international hundreds and was the backbone of the South African middle order in the 1990s.
Post retirement, Cullinan took up a coaching assignment with the now-defunct Indian Cricket League team Kolkata Tigers. He continues to work as an analyst on various media platforms.
#4. Dale Benkenstein:
Dale Benkenstein averaged 58 in the 1998 ICC KnockOut Trophy, which was his first international series. Although he scored only 58 runs in the tournament, he played a couple of handy innings in the middle order for South Africa.
Despite being a member of a South African team that won an ICC trophy, he could not establish his place in the team and played only 23 ODIs for South Africa.
Post retirement, he enjoyed success at Durham and scored heaps of runs for them. He was the batting coach for the South Africa national team in the 2019 World Cup in England.
#5. Jonty Rhodes:
Jonty Rhodes was an integral part of the South African middle-order in ODIs. He scored a convincing half-century in the quarter-finals of the 1998 ICC KnockOut Trophy against England, and helped his team chase a total of 282 in the match.
Although he did not enjoy much success with the bat in the remaining two matches, he was a live-wire on the field. He took 3 catches in the finals against West Indies and 5 in the tournament.
He scored 5935 runs at an average of 35.12 in 220 ODI innings, and was a vital member of the South African team.
Post retirement, he has worked as the fielding coach of the Mumbai Indians in the IPL. He was appointed as the fielding coach of the Kings XI Punjab franchise for the 2020 season, which has been indefinitely postponed due to the COVID-19 outbreak.
#6. Mark Boucher:
Mark Boucher is the most successful wicket-keeper ever, and has affected 998 dismissals behind the stumps in international cricket. His international career came to an unfortunate finish when he was hit in his left eye by a bail. He could not resume his career again and called it a day from international cricket.
He did not taste much success with the bat in the 1998 ICC KnockOut Trophy, and scored just 4 runs. He affected 1 stumping and took 2 catches in the tournament.
At present, Boucher is the head coach of the South African national team, and will be hopeful of coaching the team to its next ICC trophy triumph.
#7. Michael Rindel:
Michael Rindel was the replacement for the injured Gary Kirsten in the 1998 ICC KnockOut Trophy. He played a couple of mature knocks in the tournament in the quarter-finals and the finals, and scored 98 runs. He also picked up 1 wicket with the ball.
Post the tournament, he played just 3 more ODIs for South Africa, and was never selected again. In 22 ODIs, the left-hander scored 575 runs at an average of 27.38, with 1 century against Pakistan.
Post retirement, he lived in Perth, where he played for WACA club Joondalup.
#8. Nicky Boje:
Nicky Boje was one of the 3 front-line spinners for South Africa in the 1998 ICC KnockOut Trophy and played all the matches, over which he picked up 2 wickets. He was also promoted to bat at number 3 in the semi-finals against Sri Lanka, and he scored 28 runs.
Boje was a decent all-rounder for South Africa and averaged 26.74 with the bat in ODIs, which included 2 centuries. He also picked up 96 ODI wickets and was a useful player lower down the order.
Post retirement, he played in the rebel Indian Cricket League. He was the coach of the Knights franchise in South Africa, and was succeeded by Alan Kruger and Allan Donald.
#9. Pat Symcox:
The lead South Africa spinner Pat Symcox had a decent 1998 ICC KnockOut Trophy. He picked up 4 wickets at an average of 25.25, and had a decent economy rate of 3.74 in the tournament.
He played 20 Tests and 80 ODIs for South Africa, and picked up 61 and 108 wickets respectively. He last played an ODI for South Africa in 1999.
Post retirement, Symcox has taken up various commentary assignments. He also owns the REMAX property franchise on the Kwa-Zulu Natal province in South Africa.
#10. Derek Crookes:
Derek Crookes played 32 ODIs for South Africa, over which he picked up 25 wickets. He last played an ODI for South Africa in the year 2000.
He picked up 2 wickets in the 1998 ICC KnockOut Trophy at an average of 30, and was a vital member of the South African team. He scored vital 24 runs in the finals of the tournament.
His name was involved in the match-fixing scandal in 2000. Crookes retired from all forms of cricket in the year 2005, and at present, is not involved in any cricket-related activities.
#11. Steve Elworthy:
Steve Elworthy picked up 44 ODI wickets for South Africa at an average of 28.07. He played international cricket from 1998 to 2002.
Elworthy played the semi-finals and the finals of the 1998 ICC KnockOut Trophy, and picked up 4 wickets at an impressive average of 17.25.
Post retirement, he was the tournament director for the inaugural T20 World Cup in South Africa in 2007. In 2010, the England and Wales Cricket Board appointed him as Director of Marketing and Communications. He has been a successful administrator for cricket South Africa too.
#12. Alan Dawson:
Alan Dawson played 19 ODIs and 2 Tests for South Africa. He has 32 ODI wickets and 5 Test wickets to his credit.
He made his debut in the 1998 ICC KnockOut Trophy, and picked up a solitary wicket in the tournament in the quarter-finals. He was dropped from the playing 11 for the remaining 2 matches of the tournament.
In the year 2020, he was named in South Africa's squad for Over-50s Cricket World Cup in South Africa. The tournament was canceled due to the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic.
#13. Makhaya Ntini:
Makhaya Ntini did not play a single match for South Africa in the 1998 ICC KnockOut Trophy. Ntini, however, is one of the most successful bowlers to have ever played for South Africa.
He picked up 390 Test wickets and 266 ODI wickets in his illustrious career. Post retirement, Ntini has taken up commentary, and is an entertainer in the commentary box.
Note: Gary Kirsten and Shaun Pollock were a part of the initial squad for the 1998 ICC KnockOut Trophy, but could not participate in the tournament due to injuries.