Dewald Pretorius

Wisden overview
Dewald Pretorius was brought up in an orphanage and has a hunger to succeed. He bowls with a high rhythmic action from close to the stumps, and in March 2002 he was called into the South African squad for the second Test against Australia. The circumstances could not have been more testing. South Africa had just been trounced by an innings and 360 runs at Johannesburg - the second-largest margin of defeat in Test history - and Pretorius himself was stepping into the vast shoes of Allan Donald, who had announced his retirement after limping off the field in tears. In 2003, his second coming was more auspicious, however. After a spell with Durham in the County Championship, Pretorius joined South Africa's Test squad for the series against England, and picked up four wickets at Edgbaston to hasten the resignation of England's captain, Nasser Hussain.

Andrew Miller