Denis Lindsay was a swashbuckling strokeplayer who was good enough to make it to the test side either as a batsman or a wicketkeeper. He is best remembered for his dominant role in the victorious 1966-67 home series against Bobby Simpson's Australians in which he scored 606 runs in seven innings at an average of 86.57. He also took a then South African record 24 catches.
His cavalier feats in a maiden 3-1 series win over Australia are indelibly writ in the folklore of South African cricket; the audacious manner in which he turned potential disaster into triumph with a carefree disregard for the batting wreckage that lay around him was the difference between the sides.
In first test vs Australia, SAF was in deep trouble. They were down to 5 wickets for just 41 runs when Pollock got out. In came Lindsay and he added 110 runs for the 6th wicket with Lance. He got out for 69 of 101 balls which included 8 fours. He was eventually the top scorer in the innings where Saffers were bowled out for 199 in 65 overs.
Then Australians came on to bat and labored 325 in 130 overs. Lindsay was again in the spotlight where he effected 6 dismissals in the innings. Equaling a 9 year old Wicketkeeping record set by Grout on the same ground.
Proteas were again in trouble in second innings when they found themselves at 268/5 which was effectively 148/5. What happened next is writ in the folklore of South African cricket; the audacious manner in which he turned potential disaster into triumph with a carefree disregard for the batting wreckage that lay around him was the difference between the sides. He scored 182 runs of 227 balls which include 25 fours and 5 sixes. A strike rate of above 80 was otherworldly for that era. Saffers scored 620 runs and then bowled Australia out for 261 to win the match by 233 runs.
In the third Test at Durban South Africa were put into bat on a well-grassed pitch; this time they slumped to 94 for 6 but Lindsay's 137 hauled them back and they won by eight wickets. That century, in difficult conditions, was probably the most valuable of his three in the series. In it, for once, he did not attempt to hit sixes.
Lindsay's childhood friend was the allrounder Herbert `Tiger' Lance. During the 1960s they were regular team-mates in the Test team, an irrepressible and inseparable duo. Tall, strong men, they always stood side by side in the team photographs and batted consecutively in the middle order, sharing two century partnerships in the 1966-67 series.
On one occasion they were discussing the inability of a Test batsman to find the gaps in the field. "He has to go through the air," argued Lance. "No, the risk's too great; he has to keep it on the grass," retorted Lindsay. The argument persisted, "through the air" or "on the grass", until Lindsay turned to Lance and asked, "Why are you so adamant he should go airborne?" "Easy, my mate," replied Lance, "there's more air than grass."
This simple truth would not have been lost on Lindsay. In the summer of 1966-67 he regularly elected to hit through the air with hooks and lofted drives in his astonishing assault on Australia's bowlers. He hit 12 sixes in the five-match series, nine of them coming at the Wanderers, when he scored magnificent centuries in the two Tests played on that ground.
In attempting to hook a bouncer from the tall fast bowler David Renneberg in the second Test at Newlands he miscued for once and the ball thundered off the edge on to his unprotected forehead. As Lindsay fell unconscious on the pitch, blood starting from a nasty wound, the ball rebounded into Renneberg's hands for a simple return catch and Lindsay was out for 5.
In the second innings he returned bravely, his forehead stitched, to hook three sixes in his 81. In the days before helmets he never batted in a cap. In the fourth Test at the Wanderers he came in at 3.25pm. His century came 110 minutes later. An appeal against the light, with Lindsay on 95, was turned down by the umpires. He hit the next ball from Bob Cowper into the distant grandstand. He went on to score 131.
Truly he was a player ahead of his generation and a inspiration of modern wicketkeeper batsmen.
P.S: Sorry if it was too long. There was so much interesting stuff about this guy that i didnt felt like leaving it out.
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My Final XI.
1. Herbert Sutcliffe(RHB, Avg:60.73, Runs:4555, Eng)
2. Phil Mead (LHB, Avg:49.37, Runs:1185, Eng)
3. Javed Miandad(RHB, Avg:52.57, Runs:8832, Pak)
4. Sachin Tendulkar(RHB, Avg:56.02 , Runs:15183, Ind )
5. Maharaj Kumar Shri Duleepsinhji(RHB, Avg:58.52, Runs:995, Eng)
6. Eddie Paynter(LHB, Avg:59.23 , Runs: 1540, Eng)
7. Denis Lindsay(RHB, Avg:37.66, Runs:1130, SAF)
8. Kapil Dev(RHB, BatAvg:31.05 , Runs:5248 , Fast Medium, BowlAvg:29.64, Wickets:434, Ind)
9. Ritchie Benaud(RHB, BatAvg:24.45 , Runs:2201 , LegBreakGoogly, BowlAvg:27.03, Wickets:248, Aus)
10. Billy Barnes(RHB, BatAvg:23.38 , Runs:725 , Fast Medium, BowlAvg:15.54, Wickets:51, Eng)
11.Bobby Peel(LHB, Slow LeftArmOrthodox, BowlAvg:16.98, Wickets:101, Eng)
Luckily, I've got 2 back-up plans - one's pretty straightforward and the other's a bit left-field. Will decide once Crew makes his picks.
Was hoping you would have forgotten Evans 
Syed Kirmani too, who I think is one of Test cricket's forgotten men - he was a fantastic keeper. I would have taken Kirmani if I'd picked a bit later in that 71-90 round. And Greg Chappell too, went unpicked after Crew of Black swapped him out for a leftie. Generally we've picked all the good ones out, but of course some will slip through the cracks.
Sachin is on the verge of making this record of 100 100's at the international level but making 100 100's in first class cricket does take something special too and more so when you are a wicket keeper, you must be at the best of their fitness. 
