He has been one of best bowler and most acurate and economical bowler of world during 90's. His stats are impressive in test. In just 18 tests he got nearly 90 wickets but he has been stamped as ODI bowler always. In test he was not used regularly in 90's. I know SA had so many world class pace bowlers in 90's but still De Villiers should have given more chances in test. In my school days he was an inspiration , also Donald.
Fanie was dropped as soon as Shaun Pollock was on the horizon, though he was putting on a bit of years , he was still quite fit in the late 90s when Hansie and SA decide to pass up on him in favour of others .. never understood why he went out of favour even when he was performing
HAD senior cricketers like Fannie De Villiers,Pat Symcox, Brian Mc Millan,Andrew Hudson and David Richardson played 1999 World Cup then South Africa would have reached the final instead of choking in the semi final match vs Australia.Sadly the retirements of these veteran cricketers opened the gates for the bookies in the South African dug out thus leading to match fixing scandal with the Proteas captain Hansie Cronje falling in their pockets.
These senior players were in many tournaments where sa choked...96 titan cup, 98 Carlton and united series in aus and ofcourse the 92 and 96 wc..still cannot understand the omission of pat symcox(he played 2 months before the 96 wc..Nicky bole had not proved his utility by then..
The death of Bob woolmer and the fact that its not spoken of in the cricketing circle is sad and scary cause it shows someone is controlling the game.....makes me wonder if matches nowadays are legit or what...!!!
Hhmm. Hudson tended to be "hot or cold", not overly consistent. For the others, Dave Richardson would've been 40, Pat Symcox 39, Brian McMillan 36 & Fanie 35. Fair to say, they would all have been past their best. In any case, injuries had forced the retirements of Richardson, Fanie & Big Mac.
