September 16th marks the birthday of Dev Richardson, a former South African wicketkeeper born in 1959. He played 42 matches for South Africa and was involved in dismissing 152 batsmen behind the stumps.
After concluding his cricket career, his activities continued in sports management, and he subsequently took up the position of ICC General Manager.
Dev Richardson was considered one of the most successful wicketkeepers in South African history, possessing not only reliable keeping skills but also the ability to play a useful batsman. In 42 Tests, he made 152 dismissals, including 150 catches and 2 stumpings.
An interesting aspect of his wicketkeeping career is that he managed to take 120 catches before executing his first Test stumping. This first stumping occurred in a match against India in Cape Town during the 1996-97 season, when he stumped Venkatesh Prasad off a ball by Paul Edms.
In addition to excellent work behind the wickets, Richardson demonstrated good batting skills. In Tests, he scored eight half-centuries and one century. His only Test century was scored against New Zealand in Cape Town in the 1994-95 season.
However, in the very next match against Pakistan in Johannesburg, an undesirable record was added: he was dismissed on the very first ball in both innings, which in cricket terminology is called a 'king pair'.
Despite a successful international career, the second phase of his life proved even more significant. After retiring from cricket, he became the first ICC General Manager in January 2002. Approximately a decade later, Richardson was entrusted with one of the most important roles at the ICC: in 2012, he became the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the ICC.