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Speaker Bio: Jonty Rhodes // March 2008
Jonathan "Jonty" Rhodes (born 27 July 1969) is a former South African Test and One Day International cricketer who played for the South African cricket team between 1992 and 2003.
Rhodes shot to fame after South Africa's fifth game of the World Cup, against Pakistan on the 8 March 1992 at the Brisbane Cricket Ground. With the score at 135/2 Inzamam, who was at the time on 48, set off for a run but was turned back by Khan. The ball had rolled out towards Rhodes who ran in from backward point, gathered the ball and raced the retreating Inzamam to the wicket. Rhodes, with ball in hand, dived full length to break the stumps and effect the run out. The run out, the subject of a famous photograph, is still considered one of the most spectacular feats of that World Cup and the defining moment of Rhodes' career.
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The Jonty Rhodes legend may have begun with the diving run-out of Inzamam-ul-Haq but it would never have grown as it did without genuine substance. Rhodes worked harder than anyone else in a team of hard workers, frequently delaying the team bus at the end of practice for one more round of reflex catches. Nobody has ever fielded better in the key one-day position of backward point, where he leapt like a salmon and stopped singles by reputation alone. But Rhodes was just as likely to delay the bus by relentlessly signing autographs for gaggles of persistent children; the arrival of his own, Daniella, was instrumental in his semi-retirement. Indeed, Rhodes may have become the first cricketer to claim paternity leave.
There was a notable rise in the level of the Proteas' play when Jonty Rhodes was in the team. Constantly encouraging his teammates and setting the example for others to follow, he had an uplifting effect on his team. His optimism and boyish enthusiasm made him a favourite of fans throughout the world, wherever he played. But it was not just the fans that respected Rhodes; he was, in October 2002, overwhelmingly voted the best fielder in cricket by the players, who in a poll gave him 75 percent of the vote, with Australia's Ricky Ponting a distant second on 20 percent.
He has more endorsements than any team-sport player in South Africa's history, is at the forefront of the sporting dotcom revolution, and is constantly exploring the boundaries and horizons of commerce. His final retirement was hastened by an inopportune finger-fracture early in the 2003 World Cup, although there was still time for a successful farewell season in county cricket for Gloucestershire.
Jonty is not short on character, integrity and human values. He has been described as the "gentleman for the new century" and has maintained his demeanor throughout some tough times in South African cricket and more particularly in an era when money talks, egos are huge and the pressure to perform is endless. His approach to life and sport has won him millions of admirers around the world. In 1999 he was voted as one of the Wisden Cricketers of the Year, and in 2004 he was voted 29th in the Top 100 Great South Africans.
It is for these reasons and more that Jonty Rhodes remains one of the most sought after speakers on the International speaking circuit. His experience in both sport and business allow him to draw parallels between the two and impart some valuable lessons for all sectors of society.
Jonty is married to Kate, has two children Daniella (8) and Ross (3) and resides in Durban, South Africa. |
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