Hansie Cronje

His father Ewie had played for Orange Free State in the 1960s, and Frans had also played first-class cricket.

Wessel Johannes "Hansie" Cronje (25 September 1969 – 1 June 2002) was a South African international cricketer and captain of the South Africa national cricket team in the 1990s.

A right-handed all-rounder, as captain Cronje led his team to victory in 27 Test matches and 99 One Day Internationals.

Cronje was born in Bloemfontein, South Africa to Ewie Cronje and San-Marie Cronje on 25 September 1969.

He graduated in 1987 from Grey College in Bloemfontein, where he was the head boy.

An excellent all round sportsman, he represented the then Orange Free State Province in cricket and rugby at schools level.

He was the captain of his school's cricket and rugby teams.

Cronje earned a Bachelor of Commerce degree from the University of the Free State.

He had an older brother, Frans Cronje, and a younger sister, Hester Parsons.

Cronje made his first-class debut for Orange Free State against Transvaal at Johannesburg in January 1988 at the age of 18.

In the following season, he was a regular, appearing in all eight Currie Cup matches plus being part of the Benson and Hedges Series-winning team, scoring 73 as an opener in the final.

In 1989–90, despite playing all the Currie Cup matches, he failed to make a century, and averaged only 19.76; however, in one-day games he averaged 60.12.

During that season he scored his maiden century for South African Universities against Mike Gatting's rebels.

Despite having just turned 21, Cronje was made captain of Orange Free State for the 1990–91 season.

He scored his maiden century for them against Natal in December 1990, and finished the season with another century and a total of 715 runs at 39.72.

That season he also scored 159* in a 40-over match against Griqualand West.

Cronje's form in 1991/92 was impressive especially in the one-day format where he averaged 61.40.

In 1992–93, he captained Orange Free State to the Castle Cup/Total Power Series double.

He earned an international call up for the 1992 World Cup, making his One Day International debut against Australia at Sydney.

During the tournament he played in eight of the team's nine games, averaging 34.00 with the bat, while his medium pace was used in bowling 20 overs.

After the World Cup Cronje was part of the tour to the West Indies; he featured in the three ODIs, and in the Test match at Bridgetown that followed, he made his Test debut.

This was South Africa's first Test since readmission and they came close to beating a strong West Indian side, going into the final day at 122/2 chasing 200 they collapsed to 148.

India toured South Africa in 1992/93.

In the first one-day international, he hit the famous six when his team needed 6 runs off only 4 balls, and was awarded Man of the match for his bowling.

In the one-day series, Cronje managed just one fifty but with the ball he was economical and took his career best figures of 5/32, becoming the second South African to take five wickets in an ODI.

In the Test series that followed he scored his maiden test century, 135 off 411 balls, after coming in at 0–1 in the second over he was last man out, after eight and three-quarter hours, in a total of 275.

This contributed to South Africa's first Test win since readmission.

At the end of the season in a triangular tournament with Pakistan and West Indies he scored 81 off 70 balls against Pakistan.

In South Africa's next Test series against Sri Lanka, Cronje scored his second Test century, 122 in the second Test in Colombo; the victory margin of an innings and 208 runs is a South African record.

He finished the series with 237 runs at 59.25 after scoring 73* in the drawn third Test.

In 1993–94, there was another Castle Cup/Total Power Series double for Orange Free State.

In 1995, Cronje appeared for Leicestershire where he scored 1301 runs at 52.04 finishing the season as the county's leading scorer.

In 1995–96, he finished the season top of the batting averages in the Currie Cup, his top score of 158 helped Free State chase down 389 to beat Northern Transvaal.

In 1997, Cronje played for Ireland as an overseas player in the Benson and Hedges Cup and helped them to a 46-run win over Middlesex by scoring 94 not out and taking three wickets.

This was Ireland's first-ever win against English county opposition.

Later in the same competition, he scored 85 and took one wicket against Glamorgan.

Cronje also led South Africa to win the 1998 ICC KnockOut Trophy, the only major ICC title the country has won to date.

In the 1998 ICC KnockOut Trophy Final, Cronje played a major role with the bat with his 61 not out, leading the team to victory by 4 wickets.

He died in a plane crash in 2002.

He was voted the 11th-greatest South African in 2004 despite having been banned from cricket for life due to his role in a match-fixing scandal.