As the level-headed "Captain Sensible" at Hansie Cronje's right hand for his first two years in charge, Craig Matthews played a crucial yet often unseen role in South Africa's success in the mid-1990s. Cool under pressure and calm in adversity, Matthews rescued the hot-headed young Cronje on several occasions in the early years of his tenure. Happy to play the unglamorous-workhorse role in the four-man pace attack around which the team was built, he would often bowl the most overs for the fewest runs running uphill, into the wind. His interests strayed beyond the field of play to the greater game and led to his appointment as Western Province's marketing manager upon retirement from first-class cricket.
Neil Manthorp