Missing numbers
ESPNcricinfo staff
25-Feb-2013
ESPNcricinfo Ltd
Although the likes of Bruce Mitchell, Roy McLean, Robert Catterall, Alan Melville and Percy Sherwell feature on the honours board at Lord's alongside South Africa's latest entrants in Ashwell Prince, Neil McKenzie and Hashim Amla, in the eyes of Cricket South Africa they remain "illegitimate children", writes Gary Lemke in the Independent Online.
You might have noticed that McKenzie wears the number '42' below the Proteas badge on his shirt, Prince has '48', Smith '49' and Amla '60'.
This is where they are recognised in CSA's numerical system, a controversial badge of honour that starts with Kepler Wessels, who captained the first unified South African team back into Test cricket. The official excuse a few seasons back was that the "older" generation, like the above- mentioned, plus the likes of Mike Procter, Barry Richards, Graeme Pollock and Eddie Barlow, lived and played in a "parallel universe" and as such could not be honoured in such a manner for having represented their country.
Mathew Varghese is sub-editor (stats) at Cricinfo