Wisden overview
Long gone are the days of Gary Kirsten the Man's Man, partying and playing the bachelor for all it was worth. Blissfully married to Deborah and living under the shadow of Table Mountain in Cape Town, Kirsten is now the softly spoken voice of reason. Yet he remains one of the most grittily determined opening batsmen in the world. Kirsten makes a habit of proving his critics wrong, never more so than when equalling Daryll Cullinan's national Test record score of 275, against England at Durban in 1999-2000 after he had apparently been selected on a last-chance basis. Few cricketers practise harder and few in their thirties are fitter. On debut against Australia in 1993-94 he was soon confronted with two gullies and a backward point, such were the limitations of his strokeplay. But after spending hundreds of hours in the nets and the gym, he now drives as straight as anyone, and whips deliveries on off stump through midwicket in the first 15 overs of one-day matches. Recalled against Bangladesh at East London in October 2002 after a run of poor form, he cashed in to become the first man to complete a full set of centuries against all nine Test-playing countries. The most surprising of the many casualties of South Africa's disastrous 2003 World Cup, Kirsten announced his retirement from one-day internationals after averaging 62.00 from the six matches he played in the tournament. Neil Manthorp

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