Name:

Rice, Clive Edward Butler

Date of Birth:

23 Jul 1949

Gender:

Men

Place of Birth:

Johannesburg, South Africa

Date Died:

28 Jul 2015

Career:

ODI: 1991 - 1991

Teams:

South Africa (Country)
Nottinghamshire (Regional)

Re-entry in 1991:: The early years for South Africa

Clive Rice (1949–2015) stands as one of South Africa’s premier all-round cricketers—a player whose international career was tragically curtailed by his country’s sporting isolation during the apartheid era.

Born on 23 July 1949 in Johannesburg, Rice was an imposing right-handed middle-order batter and a lethal right-arm fast-medium bowler. He represented Transvaal with distinction before becoming a legendary figure at Nottinghamshire, where his inspirational leadership propelled the county to the pinnacle of English cricket during the 1980s.

Renowned for his relentless competitiveness, tactical brilliance, and supreme fitness, Rice was widely regarded as one of the finest players never to enjoy a full Test career.

His first-class record remains one of the most prolific in cricket history. Across 482 first-class matches, Rice amassed 26,331 runs at an average of 40.95—including 48 centuries—and snared 930 wickets at an astonishing 22.49.

His limited-overs achievements were equally formidable: in 479 List A matches, he scored 13,474 runs (average 38.38) and took 517 wickets at 22.49. Under his captaincy, Nottinghamshire claimed County Championship titles in 1981, 1987, and 1989, along with multiple one-day trophies.

When South Africa was re-admitted to international cricket in 1991, a 42-year-old Rice was fittingly named captain for the nation's historic return, leading the side in three One-Day Internationals. Though his international appearance was brief, contemporaries harbored no doubt that he belonged alongside the premier all-rounders of his era.

Rice’s forthright character was also evident during the Hansie Cronje match-fixing scandal in 2000. Having known Cronje for many years and served as one of his mentors, Rice was deeply shocked by the revelations but refused to excuse his former captain’s actions. While expressing sympathy for Cronje as a friend, he insisted that corruption had no place in cricket and supported thorough investigations to restore the game’s integrity. 

After retiring, Rice contributed heavily to coaching and administration until his passing from a brain tumor on 28 July 2015, at age 66.