Klusener starred for the Proteas in 1999 (Allsport).

By David Clough

Many outstanding talents have lit up the World Cup stage. Here David Clough remembers five of the most famous of all.

THE SUPERSTARS

Viv Richards (West Indies, 1979)

Richards' one-day average approaching 50 - to stand alongside a Test return slightly in advance of the half-century - marks him out as one of the sport's all-time greats.

His career knew many highs, and a large proportion came against England.

It was fitting therefore that one of many days which encapsulated the Antiguan's superstar status came on the biggest stage, in the World Cup final against England.

Mike Brearley's hosts were in truth shorn of much talent eliminated by allegiance to World Series. But Richards was a class apart in his unbeaten 138 which set up a 92-run win to bring the all-powerful Windies' their second - and their last - World Cup.

Richards signed off with a dismissive six into the Mound Stand in a 157-ball innings which eclipsed even the emerging talent of Joel Garner, who was to rip out five wickets for only four runs in an 11-ball spell as England declined from 183 for two to 194 all out.

Richards' and Garner's careers were full of dominant performances - but neither was ever more obviously superior to his opponents than against hapless England at Lord's in mid-June 1979.

Kapil Dev (India, 1983)

The great Indian all-rounder was already his country's captain and an iconic figure before he arrived at Tunbridge Wells to lead his team against competition minnows Zimbabwe on June 18 1983.

But he left the Nevill Ground, having rewritten World Cup and one-day internationals and readdressed what was possible in a 60-over match.

India found themselves in terrible trouble at nine for four - openers Sunil Gavaskar and Kris Srikkanth out for ducks and Mohinder Armanath and Sandeep Patil also eliminated cheaply.

Kapil's response was an innings of 175 not out which contained 16 fours and six sixes, took him 138 balls and dominated a total of 266 for eight.

It was all the more remarkable for the fact Kapil did not enter the fray until number six and, although there was one especially short boundary at the compact venue, most of his big hits were aimed - and disappeared - in the opposite direction.

Kapil shared a record ninth-wicket stand of 126 with wicketkeeper Syed Khirmani on the way to a 31-run win which helped to carry India towards their first and only 'world title'.

That came courtesy of a surprise 43-run victory over the mighty West Indies in the Lord's final - and put all-rounder Kapil in the same bracket in cricket-mad India as master batsmen Gavaskar and more recently Sachin Tendulkar.

Wasim Akram (Pakistan, 1992)

In a competition which also showcased the culmination of Martin Crowe's special talent, Wasim's vintage showing throughout proved more significant than that of the New Zealand batsman.

His 16 scalps made him the tournament's top wicket-taker - and after his man-of-the-match showing in Pakistan's Melbourne final victory over England he was inked in as one of the world's most feared all-rounders.

The future Pakistan captain followed a blistering 19-ball 33 by snuffing out England's 'pinch-hitter' Ian Botham first ball before returning to settle the match with the wickets of Allan Lamb and Chris Lewis.

Many more highlights have followed in a career which currently contains almost 350 one-day internationals and in which he has delivered approaching 3,000 overs.

Rapid left-armer Wasim has gone on to be a premier exponent of reverse as well as conventional swing, an astute captain and an enduring fixture in the upper echelons of world cricket.

Sanath Jayasuriya (Sri Lanka, 1996)

Jayasuriya's team-mates Aravinda de Silva, Asanka Gurusinha and his captain Arjuna Ranatunga all made many more runs that the Sri Lanka opener at the 1996 World Cup - as did the likes of Pakistan's Saeed Anwar, South Africa's Gary Kirsten, Australia's Mark Waugh and India's Tendulkar.

In fact, Jayasuriya's 221 runs at an average of 36.83 is statistically far from remarkable. Yet another statistic ensured he was named player of the tournament even before Sri Lanka beat Australia in the final at Lahore.

Jayasuriya's strike rate of 132.33 at the top of the order - in company with Romesh Kaluwitharana - changed forever the way teams approach one-day cricket.

The destructive left-hander's instant shot-making against the new ball means he is rightly credited with 'inventing' pinch-hitting.

One of his assaults obliterated England in a 44-ball 82 which helped his team race to a five-wicket quarter-final win in Faisalabad and made a mockery of Michael Atherton's tactic of opening the bowling with slow left-armer Richard Illingworth.

Jayasuriya's all-out attack is never better served than by slow and true sub-continental wickets. But he has proved in a successful international career in both forms of the game that he can make it work in all conditions - and he continues to take matches away from the best in the world when he is on song.

Lance Klusener (South Africa, 1999)

Klusener announced himself at the 1999 World Cup by hitting his first three balls for four in an innings of 12 not out which wrapped up South Africa's opening Group A victory over India at The Oval.

Unbeaten half-centuries followed against Sri Lanka at Northampton and Zimbabwe at Chelmsford. After the qualifying campaign no one had managed to get the hefty all-rounder out - and yet still his ultra-powerful left-handed hitting was never used sooner than number seven in the order.

In fact Klusener's only failure in a competition return of 281 runs at an average of 140.50 came when he was promoted in the Super Six stage, against New Zealand at Edgbaston.

That was one of only two occasions he was to lose his wicket in the entire tournament - and appropriately he was the last man standing at the same venue when South Africa lost to World Cup winners Australia in their tied semi-final which for many remains the best one-day international ever played.

Klusener, whose other string is an increasingly gentle but accurate right-arm medium-pace, has continued to be central to South Africa's one-day international gameplan - and he goes into this year's competition on his home patch with a huge reputation to live up to.