Dermot Reeve

Reeve’s mind-over-matter approach to the game made him a natural captain, and in 1994 – with a little help from Brian Lara's bat and Bob Woolmer's coaching – he led Warwickshire to three of the four major trophies, failing only in the NatWest final. He loved to improvise, reverse-sweeping the spinners to distraction, going down on one knee to hoist the quicker bowlers over mid-wicket, and subtly vary the pace of his energetic seamers. In one county match, against Hampshire, he even played the left-arm spin of Raj Maru by throwing his bat to the ground to rule out catches to the close fielders. But, as a his cover-drive and tight off-stump line showed, he could do the basics too. Reeve was an occasional member of England's one-day side – having appeared for his native Hong Kong in the 1982 ICC Trophy – and played in the 1992 World Cup final, but he was given just three Tests, all in New Zealand in 1991-92. His international career should perhaps have been longer, but he left Warwickshire in 1997 to become Somerset's coach, and later worked as an incisive commentator for Channel 4