Wessel Johannes "Hansie" Cronje was a South African international cricketer and captain of the South Africa national cricket team in the 1990s. A right-handed all-rounder, as captain Cronje led his team to victory in 27 Test matches and 99 One Day Internationals. Cronje also led South Africa to win the 1998 ICC KnockOut Trophy, the only major ICC title the country has won till date. In the 1998 ICC KnockOut Trophy Final, Cronje played a major role with the bat with his 61 not out, leading the team to victory by 4 wickets. He was voted the 11th-greatest South African in 2004 despite having been banned from cricket for life due to his role in a match-fixing scandal. He died in a plane crash in 2002.
Sir Curtly Elconn Lynwall Ambrose KCN is an Antiguan former cricketer who played 98 Test matches for the West Indies. Widely acknowledged as one of the greatest fast bowlers of all time, he took 405 Test wickets at an average of 20.99 and topped the ICC Player Rankings for much of his career to be rated the best bowler in the world. His great height—he is 6 feet 7 inches (2.01 m) tall—allowed him to make the ball bounce unusually high after he delivered it; allied to his pace and accuracy, it made him a very difficult bowler for batsmen to face. A man of few words during his career, he was notoriously reluctant to speak to journalists. He was chosen as one of the Wisden Cricketers of the Year in 1992; after he retired he was entered into the International Cricket Council Hall of Fame and selected as one of West Indies all-time XI by a panel of experts.
Courtney Andrew Walsh OJ is a Jamaican former cricketer who represented the West Indies from 1984 to 2001, captaining the West Indies in 22 Test matches. He is a fast bowler and considered one of the all-time greats, best known for a remarkable opening bowling partnership along with fellow West Indian Curtly Ambrose for several years. Walsh played 132 Tests and 205 ODIs for the West Indies and took 519 and 227 wickets respectively. He shared 421 Test wickets with Ambrose in 49 matches. He held the record of most Test wickets from 2000, after he broke the record of Kapil Dev. This record was later broken in 2004 by Shane Warne. He was the first bowler to reach 500 wickets in Test cricket. His autobiography is entitled "Heart of the Lion". Walsh was named one of the Wisden Cricketers of the Year in 1987. In October 2010, he was inducted into the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame. He was appointed as the Specialist Bowling Coach of Bangladesh Cricket Team in August 2016.
Rahul Sharad Dravid is a former cricket player, ex-captain and ex-coach of the Indian national cricket team. Known for his outstanding batting technique, Dravid scored 24,177 runs in international cricket and is widely regarded as one of the greatest batsmen in the history of cricket. He is colloquially known as Mr. Dependable and often referred to as The Wall. He won the 2002 ICC Champions Trophy as a member of the Indian team and guided the Indian team to victory in the 2024 ICC Men's T20 World Cup as the head coach.
Mohammad Javed Miandad PP SI, popularly known as Javed Miandad, is a Pakistani cricket coach, commentator and former cricketer known for his unconventional style of captaincy and batting. ESPNcricinfo described him as "the greatest batsman Pakistan has ever produced" and his contemporary Ian Chappell extolled him as one of the finest batsmen in the history of cricket.
Saqlain Mushtaq is a Pakistani cricket coach and former international cricketer who was the head coach of the Pakistani national cricket team between 2021 and 2022. He is best known for pioneering the "doosra", a leg break delivery bowled with an off break action. He was the fastest to reach the milestones of 200 and 250 wickets in ODIs. Mushtaq made history when he became the first Pakistani to take a hat-trick at a Cricket World Cup, which he did against Zimbabwe during the 1999 tournament.
Danish Parabha Shankar Kaneria, is a Pakistani former cricketer who played for the Pakistan national cricket team between 2000 and 2010. A right-arm leg spinner who could bowl a googly, Kaneria played 61 Test matches for Pakistan and took 261 wickets at an average of 34.79. He was the second Hindu, after his cousin Anil Dalpat, and the seventh non-Muslim overall to represent Pakistan in international cricket.
The Bangladesh men's national cricket team, popularly known as The Tigers, is administered by the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB). It is a Full Member of the International Cricket Council (ICC) with Test, One-Day International (ODI) and Twenty20 International (T20I) status.
Kumar Chokshanada Sangakkara is a Sri Lankan former professional cricketer who represented Sri Lanka from 2000 to 2015. A former captain in all formats. He was born in Matale, Central Province. In first-class cricket, he played for Nondescripts Cricket Club from 1997–98 to 2013–14 and for Surrey County Cricket Club from 2015 to 2017. Sangakkara is widely regarded as one of the greatest cricketers of all time. He was a key part of the Sri Lankan squads which won the 2001-02 Asian Test Championship, 2002 ICC Champions Trophy and 2014 T20 World Cup.
Saeed Anwar is a Pakistani former cricketer and a former captain for Tests and ODIs. An opening batsman and occasional slow left arm orthodox bowler, Anwar played international cricket between 1989 and 2003. Considered one of greatest opening batsmen Pakistan has ever produced and also regarded as one of the finest batsmen of his era. Anwar has scored twenty centuries in ODIs, more than any other Pakistani batsmen in this format. He played 55 Test matches, scoring 4052 runs with eleven centuries, average 45.52. In 247 One Day Internationals (ODIs) he made 8824 runs at an average of 39.21. Anwar is credited for being one of the most stylish batsmen of 1990s alongside Mark Waugh, Damien Martyn and Sourav Ganguly. His timing, elegance and placement of cricket shots are widely admired by cricket fans. He was a part of the squad which finished as runners-up at the 1999 Cricket World Cup.
Mushtaq Ahmed is a Pakistani cricket coach and former cricketer who currently acts as the spin bowling coach for the Bangladesh national cricket team. A leg break googly bowler, at his peak he was described as being one of the best three wrist-spinners in the world. In an international career that spanned from 1990 until 2003, he claimed 185 wickets in Test cricket and 161 in One Day Internationals. He was at his most prolific internationally between 1995 and 1998, but his most successful years were as a domestic player for Sussex in the early 2000s.
Mohammad Ashraful is a Bangladeshi cricketer, who has represented the Bangladesh men's national team.
Colin Reid Miller is an Australian former cricketer who played 18 Tests for Australia between 1998 and 2001. In May 2002, Miller announced his retirement from cricket.
The history of cricket in Bangladesh predates the foundation of the Bangladeshi state in 1971 by nearly two centuries. Cricket was introduced to Bengal by the British in the eighteenth century but its growth in East Bengal was slow. Following Partition and the creation of East Pakistan, both first-class and Test cricket were played there during the 1950s and 1960s. Although cricket continued to be popular after independence, especially in Dhaka, the country lost first-class status and had to establish itself in international competition as an Associate Member of the International Cricket Council (ICC).
The 1998 ICC KnockOut trophy was a One Day International cricket tournament held in Bangladesh. It was the first tournament apart from the World Cups to involve all Test-playing nations. New Zealand defeated Zimbabwe in a pre-quarter-final match to qualify for the main knockout stage. Future editions of this tournament are now known as the ICC Champions Trophy. Appearing in their first major tournament final, South Africa defeated the West Indies in the final to win the event. This tournament was inaugurated on the basis of FIFA Confederations Cup where the best teams from their respected confederations compete against each other but in this case the top teams in the ICC ODI Championship compete with each other.
The Pakistan national cricket team represents Pakistan in international cricket and is a full member of the International Cricket Council (ICC) with Test and One Day International (ODI) status. Pakistan first competed in international cricket in 1952, when they played against India in a four-day Test match; India won the match by an innings and 70 runs at the Feroz Shah Kotla Ground, Delhi. In the same series, Pakistan recorded their first Test win, the second match by an innings and 43 runs at the University Ground, Lucknow. As of September 2024, Pakistan have played 458 Test matches; they have won 148 matches, lost 144 matches, and 166 matches have ended in a draw. They have also won the 1998–99 Asian Test Championship, defeating Sri Lanka in the final by an innings and 175 runs. Pakistan played their first ODI match against New Zealand in February 1973 at the Lancaster Park, Christchurch, but registered their first win against England at Trent Bridge, Nottingham, in August 1974. As of November 2023, Pakistan have played 970 ODI matches, winning 512 matches and losing 428; they also tied 9 matches, whilst 21 had no result. They also won the 1992 Cricket World Cup, the 2000 and 2012 Asia Cups, and the 2017 ICC Champions Trophy. Pakistan played their first Twenty20 International (T20I) match at the County Cricket Ground, Bristol, on 28 August 2006, against England, winning the match by five wickets. In 2009, they won the 2009 ICC World Twenty20, defeating Sri Lanka by eight wickets. As of June 2024, Pakistan have played 245 T20I matches and won 142 of them; 92 were lost and 4 were tied whilst 7 ended in no result.
For the first time since independence in 1971, first-class cricket was played in Bangladesh in the 1998–99 season.
The Shell Conference was a first-class cricket competition held in New Zealand in the 1997–98, 1998–99 and 1999–2000 seasons, sponsored by Shell.
