5 player withdrawals in the midst of a tour

#2 Daryll Cullinan

Cullinan was an important player in the South African batting line up

Daryll Cullinan's decision to withdraw himself from the second Test against Australia at home in 2002 attracted lot of attention.

South African cricketing body, United Cricket Board (UCB), was left fuming after Cullinan decided not to play when officials denied his request to be placed on contract until the 2003 World Cup in South Africa. Cullinan, at the time, was a possible candidate to captain the country after Pollock had withdrawn due to injury.

That Cullinan's stand came just a day after his recall for a 71st Test further complicated matters. Gerald Majola, UCB's Chief at the time, said that Cullinan was aware that he could be given a contract only by playing two Tests and six One Day matches as per UCB's policy.

"It's very disappointing," Majola said. "We spoke only last week about national pride and these are some of the things which are showing that some of our senior players have lost their national pride. This alone shows there is no national pride in Daryll Cullinan."

"If he wanted a contract, he could have played the Test then negotiated. You can't put a gun to someone's head and demand this and that or else you won't play for your country. It's very immature. You'd expect a 19-year-old to behave like this, not a 35-year-old.", Majola said.

Cullinan wanted an A category UCB contract until 2003 if he was to play in the Test match. He said he wished to be treated like a senior player. Cullinan had toured the West Indies along with the Test team the previous year but withdrew from the side ahead of the one-day series. He then flew to England to take up a contract with Kent which would make him unavailable for the Tests against Zimbabwe.

His contract also expired during this time. He had, at the time, said that he would be available to play for South Africa on a match-to-match basis. A knee injury however ended his Kent honeymoon and he was not fit to play against India. He was not selected for the Australian tour either but an 86 for the A team against Australia won him a place for the Tests.