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Few thought the South African selectors would quickly forgive the world
wanderings of Kepler Wessels when the country returned to official
cricket in 1991 but, after Clive Rice had captained the reconciliation
series of ODIs in India, the one-time Aussie was chosen as captain for
the World Cup campaign of 1992. The 81 not out he made in Sydney was the
backbone of their sensational win over Australia in their first outing
on the World stage and he followed that with 70 against Zimbabwe in
Canberra and 85 against England at Melbourne, leading his side to an
unlucky defeat in the semi-final and showing the world that South
African cricket was still the force it had been before isolation. He was
captain in the one-off Test against West Indies at Bridgetown in 1992,
scoring 59 and 74.
His dogged one-run-per over batting personified the
attritional Test cricket played by South Africa in the mid '90s. He made
118 against India in Durban in 1992-93, followed by 95 not out at Port
Elizabeth. In Sri Lanka in 1993-94 he made 92 at the Sinhalese Sports
Club in Colombo and in the Australian tour that followed he made 63 not
out in Melbourne despite back problems, which eventually lead to Hansie
Cronje taking over the captaincy for the last match of the series.
Wessels returned as captain for the return series in the same season
with Australia coming to the Cape, and brought the first South African
team to England for 29 years in 1994. He batted lower in the order than
had been his wont but still scored 105 in the Lord's Test. (Bob Harragan)
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