Kirsten missed most of his prime owing to the fact that South Africa was omitted from playing international cricket on charges of 'Apartheid'. The half-brother of Gary Kirsten was close to 37 when he made his international Test debut for South Africa. He had lost most of his batting talents with advancing age but Kirsten did bat in a determined fashion in the few games that he managed to play for his country.

Born on May 14, 1955, Peter Kirsten was a right handed batsman and an occasional off-break bowler. He played for the Western Province and Derbyshire with distinction. He scored his lone Test century against England at Leeds in what was his penultimate Test in 1994. Kirsten was known for his doggedness, a trait he displayed in a losing cause against Australia in Adelaide, 1994. He scored 79 and 42 but South Africa lost the test and allowed the hosts to square the series.

Peter Kirsten short career was not short of controversies though. In the same Adelaide Test, he became the first player to be found guilty of breaching the ICC Code of Conduct twice in the same match. A Johannesburg radio station launched an appeal to cover his fine. He was also bizarrely 'mankaded' by Kapil Dev in an ODI match at Port Elizabeth during India's tour of South Africa 1992-93 after refusing to heed to Kapil Dev's earlier warnings not to back up too much at the non-striker's end.

By Pradeep Krishnamurthy