Clive Rice: The most experienced First-Class and List A cricketer from South Africa

Let us see where he stands amongst the cricketers from South Africa and all-rounders of the Cricket world.

Legendary South African cricketer Clive Rice passed away on July 28, 2015 — just 5 days after his 66th birthday — losing his battle against malignant brain tumour. Bharath Seervi presents statistical notes on him which proves his reputation as the greatest cricketer from South Africa.

Clive Rice’s international career has nothing to speak about. South Africa were banned from international cricket for two decades due to the Apartheid rule, which tragically coincided with a major part of his career. The ban was put into effect right before he could  He was however, no less than some of the great players of the 1970s and 1980s. He made his First-Class debut in 1969-70, and continued playing in the format for the next two decades before finally getting the opportunity play for his country in 1991, when South Africa were invited for their historic tour of India to mark the end of their international boycott. He could not play Tests, but led South Africa in their first ever One-Day International (ODI). ALSO READ: Clive Rice passes away

Rice made his ODI debut in 1991-92 on their return, captaining the side at an age of 42. The three ODIs in that series were the only matches he played for South Africa. But by that time he was already established as a great all-rounder and captain with excellent records in First-Class and List A levels.

Let us see where he stands amongst the cricketers from South Africa and all-rounders of the Cricket world.

Most First-Class matches by South Africans

Rice was the first South African to appear in 400 First-Class cricket matches. He played his 400th match in 1986 for Nottinghamshire against Yorkshire. Two more South Africans played 400 matches after him — Mike Procter and Ken McEwan — but they retired before Rice. Clive Rice went on to play 482 (the most by any South African) matches till his retirement in 1993-94. The table below lists five most experienced First-Class cricketers from South Africa. ALSO READ: How the world reacted to Clive Rice’s death

Player	Matches	Span
Clive Rice	482	1969-70-1993-94
Ken McEwan	428	1972-73-1991-92
Mike Procter	401	1965-1988-89
Rodney Ontong	367	1972-73-1994-95
Barry Richards	339	1964-65-1982-83

Most List A matches by South Africans

Rice played almost an equal number of List A matches as well. He was the first South African to play 400 List A matches as well. His 400th appearance was in a Benson & Hedges Cup 1988 for Scotland against Derbyshire.  After him, four South Africans got to the milestone of 400 List A matches — but Rice’s 479 stands the record.

Player	Matches	Span
Clive Rice	479	1970-71-1993-94
Allan Donald	458	1985-86-2003-04
Shaun Pollock	435	1992-93-2008
Jacques Kallis	424	1994-95-2014
Ken McEwan	409	1972-73-1991-92

Hence, Rice is the most experienced First-Class and List A cricketer from South Africa. He and McEwan are the only common players in the above two tables.

Rice had similar record in both formats with both bat and ball. His batting average was 40.95 in First-Class cricket and 37.32 in List A, while his bowling average was 22.49 in First-Class cricket and 22.64 in List A. He scored 26,331 First-Class and 13,474 List A runs, and claimed 930 First-Class and 517 List A wickets. ALSO READ: Sachin Tendulkar pays tribute to Clive Rice

Most First-Class cricket runs by South Africans

Only two South Africans scored more runs than Rice — Barry Richards and McEwan.

Batsman	M	I	NO	R	Ave	100s	50s	Best
Barry Richards	339	576	58	28358	54.74	80	152	356
Ken McEwan	428	705	67	26628	41.73	74	122	218
Clive Rice	482	766	123	26331	40.95	48	137	246
Kepler Wessels	316	539	50	24738	50.58	66	132	254
Peter Kirsten	327	568	59	22635	44.46	57	107	271

Most First-Class wickets by South Africans

Rice is amongst the top wicket-takers from South Africa as well. Only three bowlers took more First-Class wickets than him — Procter, Allan Donald and Charlie Llewellyn. They all three took over 1000 wickets.

Bowler	M	W	BBI	Ave	5WIs	10WMs
Mike Procter	401	1417	9/71	19.53	70	15
Allan Donald	316	1216	8/37	22.76	68	9
Charlie Llewellyn	267	1013	9/55	23.41	82	20
Clive Rice	482	930	7/62	22.49	23	1
Hugh Tayfield	187	864	9/113	25.91	14	2

Rice is the only common player in the above two tables.

South Africans with 10,000 runs and 500 wickets in First-Class cricket

There is a reason behind the notion that South Africa has produced more quality all-rounders than any other country. There are eight South Africans with more than 10,000 runs and 500 wickets in First-Class cricket. Rice has a difference of 18.46 in his batting and bowling average — the second-best among the eight. AlSO READ: South Africa wear black armbands on Day 1 of 2nd Test vs Bangladesh

Player	M	R	Bat Ave	W	Bowl Ave	Bat Ave – Bowl Ave
Trevor Goddard	179	11289	40.60	534	21.65	18.95
Clive Rice	482	26331	40.95	930	22.49	18.46
Mike Procter	401	21926	36.00	1417	19.53	16.47
Eddie Barlow	283	18212	39.16	571	24.14	15.02
Andrew Hall	242	11072	35.26	639	27.88	7.38
Charlie Llewellyn	267	11425	26.75	1013	23.41	3.34
Sidney Martin	267	11511	27.02	532	28.31	-1.29
Rodney Ontong	367	15234	29.46	845	31.34	-1.88

Rice’s batting average is the highest and bowling average is third- best among players in the table above.

Rice, Procter and Rodney Ontong are the only South Africans with 15,000 runs and 750 wickets in First-Class cricket.

Highest difference in batting and bowling average of players with 25000 runs and 750 wickets in First-Class cricket

Comparing his career figures with other all-rounders who scored more than 25,000 runs and took over 750 wickets in First-Class cricket, Rice stands amongst the very best. His difference in batting (40.95) and bowling (22.49) averages is a whopping 18.46. Only three players in the history of First-Class cricket have better average difference than Rice — Garry Sobers, WG Grace and Frank Woolley. That is a great set of all-rounders to be with.

Player	M	R	Bat Ave	W	Bowl Ave	Av Diff
Garry Sobers	383	28314	54.87	1043	27.74	27.13
WG Grace	870	54211	39.45	2809	18.14	21.31
Frank Woolley	978	58959	40.77	2066	19.87	20.90
Clive Rice	482	26331	40.95	930	22.49	18.46
Mushtaq Mohammad	502	31091	42.07	936	24.34	17.73

In all, 16 players have completed the double of 25000 runs and 750 wickets in First-Class cricket.

Most runs in List A cricket by South Africans

With 13,474 runs Rice is one of the top run getters among South Africans in List A cricket as well. Jacques Kallis is the only South African who has scored more runs in List A cricket than Rice.

Batsman	M	I	NO	R	Ave	100s	50s	HS
Jacques Kallis	424	406	65	14845	43.53	23	109	155*
Clive Rice	479	444	83	13474	37.32	11	79	169
Kepler Wessels	337	331	30	12503	41.53	15	90	146
Herschelle Gibbs	388	370	32	11976	35.43	27	62	175
Ken McEwan	409	396	42	11866	33.51	16	69	162*

Most wickets in List A cricket by South Africans

Rice was the first South African to 400 and 500 List A wickets for South Africa. His 517 wickets in List A career have been surpassed by only two South Africans — Donald and Shaun Pollock — both legends of the sport.

Player	M	W	BBI	Ave	4WIs	5WIs
Allan Donald	458	684	6/15	21.84	27	11
Shaun Pollock	435	573	6/21	22.93	18	7
Clive Rice	479	517	6/18	22.64	19	6
Makhaya Ntini	275	388	6/22	25.28	9	6
Andrew Hall	318	365	5/18	27.59	11	2

Rice had a slightly better bowling average than Pollock’s.

Players with 10,000 runs and 500 wickets in List A Cricket

In List A cricket only four players have completed the double of 10,000 runs and 500 wickets. Rice is one of them. The others are Imran Khan, Ian Botham and Shahid Afridi. Rice has the best difference between batting and bowling average among the four. ALSO READ: Clive Rice one of the greatest cricketers to never have played Test cricket

Player	M	R	Bat Ave	W	Bowl Ave	Bat Ave – Bowl Ave
Clive Rice	479	13474	37.32	517	22.64	14.68
Imran Khan	425	10100	33.22	509	22.22	11.00
Ian Botham	470	10474	29.50	612	24.94	4.56
Shahid Afridi	499	10869	25.04	509	33.73	-8.69

Clive Rice as captain

Rice captained in 263 of the 482 First-Class cricket matches he played. In List A matches, he captained in 322 out of 479 he played in his career.

Rice finds his name among highest run-getters, highest wicket-takers and best all-rounders in both the formats. He is an absolute legend of a cricketer South Africa ever produced.

Rest in peace, Sir.

(Bharath Seervi is a cricket statistician who is obsessed with digging numbers, facts and records related to the game. An active member of Society of Cricket Statisticians of India, he blogs at www.cricketseervistats.blogspot.com. He can be followed on Twitter at www.twitter.com/SeerviBharath and on Facebook at www.facebook.com/SeerviCricket)

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