Gauteng Cricket Board chief executive Thabo Moseki is to fly to England this week to bring back the remains of Walter Masimula who died suddenly in his sleep on Thursday night. A memorial service is planned later this week once Masimula's body is back in South Africa.

Although the results of a post mortem have still to be released, it is understood that Masimula is believed to have died of natural causes at the age of 26. The news of his death, the details of which have only gradually been revealed, has been greeted with shock and disbelief in South Africa.

Masimula was playing club cricket for Brooks Cricket Club in the Surrey Leage and was coaching at King Edward's School in Witley when he died.

In many respects Masimula blazed a trail in South African cricket, capturing the headlines some years before Makhaya Ntini and Mfuneko Ngam came through as fully-fledged Test cricketers.

He emerged from the development programmes put into place in South Africa during the 1980s and went on to become something of a symbol for the newly-formed United Cricket Board and then a first-class cricketer in his own right.

As a 16-year-old Masimula, from a humble background in the Johannesburg township of Alexandra, was wheeled out before a succession of visiting dignitaries as an example of the latent talent that, given sufficient time and attention, South Africa might be able to tap into.

Like many promising young fast bowlers, Masimula never quite fulfilled his early promise. While slippery, he lacked genuine pace and he was to settle for line and length as his major assets.

Masimula came through the provincial under age groups at a time when his team-mates were almost exclusively white. He represented the old Transvaal from under 13 onwards and in 1995 he toured England with the South African under 19 team with Makhaya Ntini as a team-mate.

During England's 1999/2000 tour of South Africa he represented a combined Northerns/Gauteng XI against the tourists and by the end of the 2001/2002 he had 18 first-class appearances for Gauteng to his credit.

His unexpected death has stunned friends and team-mates in England and South Africa.

Gauteng captain Clive Eksteen said: "He was a great guy, a wholehearted competitor and a pleasure to have around. We're all very shocked and saddened by the news."

Bronwyn Wilkinson, spokesperson for the UCB, said Masimula's death had come as a great shock for South African cricket. "He was a very popular cricketer, well liked by his team-mates, opponents and administrators. The UCB would like to offer sincere condolences to his family and his many friends."

In some respects Masimula's career has been overshadowed by the achievements of Ntini and Ngam. In terms of beaking down stereotypes and prejudices, though, Masimula will be seen to have played a crucial role in South African cricket.

© CricInfo