Steve Waugh

When Steve Waugh broke into the Australian Test team at the age of 20, he was dubbed "The Iceman" for his immeasurable coolness under pressure. And yet, even Waugh had a soft spot deep beneath his rhinoceros-hide skin, and in 1998, that spot was located on Australia's tour of India.

During that series, Waugh was taken by an aid group to Udayan, a town outside Kolkata, where a home for the children of leprosy victims had been established. Waugh was instantly touched by what he saw, and in the following months and years, he made regular repeat visits, and through his own donations and fund-raising efforts, he helped to build an 80-bed girls' wing at the centre, which is also home to 220 boys.

The children, most of whom are aged between 5 and 19, can spend several years of their lives at the centre, where they receive food, clothing and medical treatment, as well as education, exercise and vocational training, whereby they can prepare to live a normal live when the time comes to leave Udayan.

With most of the parents work far away from the home, as beggars, peasants or labourers, Waugh's regular appearances are eagerly awaited by the children, many of whom refer to him as "Big Brother". He has even adopted a girl, Laxmi, as his own daughter - like his own grandmother, she suffers from post-polio paralysis. As Reverend John Gregory Stevens, the founder of the centre, put it: "Steve is not only a great cricketer but also a great human being."