Kevin Pietersen has paid tribute to Clive Rice after the former South Africa captain died at the age of 66 earlier today.
Rice, an all-rounder who made his biggest impact at county level due to the apartheid-era sporting boycott of his home nation, had been receiving treatment for a brain tumour prior to his death.
The former Nottinghamshire player and coach acted as a mentor to Pietersen in the early stages of his career, convincing him to move from South Africa to England, where he went on to enjoy great success.
"Ricey was like a father figure to me. He was the first person who gave me my first opportunity in England. He and his wife Sue would regularly invite me around to dinner just to make sure that I wasn't homesick having left South Africa as a youngster," Pietersen told BBC Radio 5 live.
"He saw in me more than I saw in myself because he gave me the confidence, ability and opportunities to fulfil a talent that I really didn't know that I had. It's an incredibly sad day. I'll try to make my plans to get across to South Africa to pay my tribute to a wonderful man.
"If I got a Test wicket, which were few and far between, or whenever I got a Test hundred I'd ask Ricey if he would like one of those on his numbers because he unfortunately never played Test match cricket, the wonderful player that he was. It was just a little thing that we had going between each other. People ask me the question all the time: 'You were a bowler and you became a batsman?'
"Ricey always said to me to bat at number six in my first season in county cricket and that he wanted me to score me 1,000 runs. I looked at him with disbelief in my eyes. It was just a huge confidence boost. He obviously had a vision for talent, more than I had in myself. A lot of my self belief came from Ricey."
Rice captained Nottinghamshire to two county championship successes, including their first in 52 years, but was only able to make three one-day international appearances for the Proteas.
Barney Corkhill
