Steven John Rhodes (born 17 June 1964) is an English cricket coach and former cricketer. He was the former coach of the

Bangladesh national cricket team The Bangladesh men's national cricket team (), commonly known as The Tigers, is the national cricket team of Bangladesh, administered by the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB). They are a Full Member of the International Cricket Council (ICC) with ...

. He was best known as a

wicket-keeper In cricket, the wicket-keeper is the Cricket player, player on the fielding (cricket), fielding side who stands behind the wicket, ready to stop Delivery (cricket), deliveries that pass the batsman, and take a Caught, catch, Stumped, stump the ...

, but was also a useful number six or seven batsman, making twelve first-class centuries. His father, William Rhodes, played more than 30 times for

Nottinghamshire County Cricket Club Nottinghamshire County Cricket Club is one of eighteen first-class county clubs within the domestic cricket structure of England and Wales. It represents the historic county of Nottinghamshire. The club's limited overs team is called th ...

in the early 1960s.

Domestic career

Emerging initially out of Birstall Cricket Club in West Yorkshire, Rhodes' county cricket career began with Yorkshire County Cricket Club in 1981. The incumbent was the international wicket-keeper David Bairstow and after limited chances he moved to Worcestershire County Cricket Club in 1985 staying with that county for the remaining two decades of his playing career. Rhodes shared in Worcestershire's successes of the late 1980s and early 1990s, as they won the

County Championship The County Championship, currently known for sponsorship reasons as the Rothesay County Championship, is the only domestic first-class cricket competition in England and Wales. Established in 1890, it is organised by the England and Wales Cri ...

1988 1988 was a crucial year in the early history of the Internet—it was the year of the first well-known computer virus, the Morris worm, 1988 Internet worm. The first permanent intercontinental Internet link was made between the United State ...

and

1989 1989 was a turning point in political history with the "Revolutions of 1989" which ended communism in Eastern Bloc of Europe, starting in Poland and Hungary, with experiments in power-sharing coming to a head with the opening of the Berlin W ...

, the Refuge Assurance League in

1987 Events January * January 1 – Bolivia reintroduces the Boliviano currency. * January 2 – Chadian–Libyan conflict – Battle of Fada: The Military of Chad, Chadian army destroys a Libyan armoured brigade. * January 3 – Afghan leader ...

and

, the

Benson & Hedges Cup The Benson & Hedges Cup was a one-day cricket competition for first-class counties in England and Wales that was held from 1972 to 2002, one of cricket's longest sponsorship deals. It was the third major one-day competition established in Engla ...

in 1991 and the

NatWest Trophy The Friends Provident Trophy was a one-day cricket competition in the United Kingdom. It was one of the four tournaments in which the eighteen first-class counties competed each season. They were joined by teams from Scotland and Ireland. Lan ...

in 1994. They also won the last Refuge Assurance Cup in 1991, Rhodes making 105, his highest score in limited over cricket and the only century in the four-year history of the tournament, in the final. Towards the end of the 2004 season, Rhodes briefly became county captain following Ben Smith's resignation during the home game with Northamptonshire County Cricket Club. Rhodes was a particularly prolific wicketkeeper in limited over cricket, and as of 2022 holds the world records for the most dismissals and most catches in this format.

International career

He was selected for the England tour to India in 1988/89, but when this was cancelled for political reasons he lost his chance, and it was to be 1994 before he made his Test cricket debut. His selection was primarily down to the new chairman of selectors,

Ray Illingworth Raymond Illingworth Commander of the Order of the British Empire, CBE (8 June 1932 – 25 December 2021) was an English cricketer, cricket commentator and administrator. , he was one of only nine players to have taken 2,000 wickets and made 20, ...

, who announced at his appointment that he wanted balanced sides i.e. an all-rounder at number 6 with a wicket-keeper at number 7. As such, Illingworth was saying that his chosen wicket-keeper had to contribute with bat and gloves. While Rhodes had a golden summer with the gloves in 1994, he did not make enough runs - especially against the powerful South African bowling attack in the second half of the season (although he did make his only Test half-century in this series at

Leeds Leeds is a city in West Yorkshire, England. It is the largest settlement in Yorkshire and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds Metropolitan Borough, which is the second most populous district in the United Kingdom. It is built aro ...

, and had won plaudits for a "gritty display" in helping to save a Test against

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

earlier in the summer). Chosen to tour Australia in 1994–95, he had a poor tour with gloves and especially with the bat - frequently dismissed by Australian spearhead

Craig McDermott Craig John McDermott (born 14 April 1965) is a former Australian cricketer. Between 1984 and 1996 he played 71 Tests for Australia, taking 291 wickets. Following the end of his playing career, he was the bowling coach for the Australian team fo ...

, often leg before wicket (LBW). Having waited so long to make his Test debut (he had played three One Day Internationals in 1989), he was dropped in favour of

Alec Stewart Alec James Stewart (born 8 April 1963) is an English former cricketer, and former captain of the England cricket team, who played Test cricket and One Day Internationals as a right-handed wicket-keeper-batsman. He is the fifth-most- capped En ...

in 1995, and never played for England again. Nevertheless, Rhodes was named as one of the

Wisden Cricketers of the Year The ''Wisden'' Cricketers of the Year are cricketers selected for the honour by the annual publication ''Wisden Cricketers' Almanack'', based "primarily for their influence on the previous English season". The award began in 1889 with the naming ...

in 1994.

Coaching career

In May 2005, Worcestershire announced that Rhodes had been appointed

Coach Coach may refer to: Guidance/instruction * Coach (sport), a director of Athletes' training and activities * Coaching, the practice of guiding an individual through a process ** Acting coach, a teacher who trains performers Transportation * Coac ...

, following the departure of Tom Moody. He subsequently served as director of cricket between 2006 and 2017. On 7 June 2018

Bangladesh Cricket Board The Bangladesh Cricket Board (; abbreviated as BCB), formerly known as Bangladesh Cricket Control Board, is the governing body of cricket in Bangladesh. It became an associate member of the International Cricket Council (ICC) in 1977, and a Lis ...

(BCB) appointed Rhodes head coach for the

national team A national sports team (commonly known as a national team or a national side) is a team that represents a nation, rather than a particular club or region, in an international sport. The term is most commonly associated with team sports, for exa ...

until the end of the 2020 ICC World Twenty20. In July 2018 Rhodes lost his first series as Bangladesh coach when

West Indies The West Indies is an island subregion of the Americas, surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea, which comprises 13 independent island country, island countries and 19 dependent territory, dependencies in thr ...

won the two-match Test series 2–0. In the ODI series, Bangladesh defeated West Indies 2–1 and recorded their second ODI series victory in West Indies. Later, Bangladesh managed to beat West Indies in the T20I series with a 2–1 lead. Rhodes praised his team for making a comeback and won the last two series after they were defeated in the Test series, and he was surprised that they won the T20 series against the

world champions A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game ...

West Indies. Bangladesh also won their first ever tournament final under Rhodes after failing the previous 6 times. In the Tri-nation Series between

Bangladesh Bangladesh, officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, eighth-most populous country in the world and among the List of countries and dependencies by ...

, Ireland, and West Indies, the Tigers beat the Windies by 5 wickets and won the trophy for the first time ever in their history. In July 2019, Rhodes' contract with the BCB was terminated, following the team's eighth-place finish in the

2019 Cricket World Cup The 2019 ICC Cricket World Cup was the 12th Cricket World Cup, a quadrennial One Day International (ODI) cricket tournament contested by men's national teams and organised by the International Cricket Council (ICC). The tournament was hosted bet ...

. He was a coach with the Comilla Victorians, in the 2022

Bangladesh Premier League Bangladesh Premier League (), also known as Dutch-Bangla Bank BPL for sponsorship reasons, is a professional Twenty20 cricket league in Bangladesh organised by the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB). It was formed in 2011 by the BCB, after the su ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Rhodes, Steve 1964 births Living people Cricketers from Bradford Directors of Cricket England One Day International cricketers England Test cricketers English cricket coaches English cricketers Marylebone Cricket Club cricketers Worcestershire cricketers Worcestershire cricket captains Yorkshire cricketers Wisden Cricketers of the Year Coaches of the Bangladesh national cricket team Wicket-keepers 20th-century English sportsmen