Clive Rice takes a break during a net session before the November 10, 1991 India vs South Africa one-day global at the Eden Gardens, Kolkata.
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Rice, an all-rounder who made his biggest impact at county level due to the apartheid-era sporting boycott of his home nation, had been receiving treatment for a brain tumour prior to his death.
Months later, he was controversially left out of the squads for the one-off Test against the West Indies and the 1992 Cricket World Cup. He also picked up 930 wickets at an average of 22.49.
Pietersen, who was sacked by England in February 2014, scored 355 not out for Surrey against Leicestershire in May as he unsuccessfully tried to win back his place in the national side.
With a first-class career that spanned nearly 36-years, Rice formed part of the formidable Transvaal “mean machine”.
But he never played Test cricket, which Hadlee said was a loss not just for Rice but for the game itself.
Although his worldwide career stands at just three ODI games, he was one of the world’s best all-rounders in the 1970s and 1980s, captaining Nottinghamshire to two English county titles.
He returned to Trent Bridge as the newly appointed cricket manager in 1999, a position he held until 2003.
Away from cricket, Rice played golf – his home backed on to his local course – and raced sports cars.
“He was humble in many ways but just wanted to prove a point on the cricket field that he was one of the great players that should have had a better chance at worldwide cricket”.
Greg Blewett, the Australia batsman who played for Nottinghamshire under Rice, added: “RIP Clive Rice“.
Unafraid to speak his mind, he liked to deploy a dramatic phrase, not least when discussing attempts to increase the number of black cricketers in the first-class game.
Pietersen also fell out with the club and was to move counties, but Rice had been vindicated in his belief that his fellow South African, who had an unwavering belief in his own abilities, would become a high-class cricketer.
Pietersen was critical of many former colleagues in his autobiography but described Rice as “a great early influence on me”.
Clive Rice, SA’s first one-day worldwide captain post isolation, passed away at the age of 66.
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“On behalf of the CSA Family I extend our deepest condolences to his wife, his son and his daughter, all the rest of his family, his friends and his many cricketing colleagues around the world”, said Lorgat.
