Jonty Rhodes, may have retired from Test cricket, but the busy middle-order batsman and mercurial fielder hopes to be wearing white this weekend during the fifth and final Test against the West Indies at Sabina Park in Kingston, Jamaica.

Rhodes (31) and Justin Ontong of Boland left for the Caribbean on Tuesday night. "I'll arrive in Jamaica during the first day's play, and I hope I'll be able to get a 'run' out in the middle as 12th man as soon as possible," Rhodes said after finishing his final practice session at Durban's Kingsmead stadium just before the Easter weekend.

He'll follow that up with a one-day warmup next Wednesday before the first ODI, also at Sabina Park, on Saturday.

Rhodes is now South Africa's most experienced one-day international player, having surpassed Hansie Cronje's record of 188 appearances last summer. With 193 ODIs now under his belt, Rhodes - an automatic choice for the one-day team - stands to reach the 200 mark in the West Indies so long as he is spared ill-health and injury.

Rhodes has been out of action since January after fracturing the little finger of his left hand against Sri Lanka in Paarl. Suitably strapped up, he played the final ODI against the Lankans on January 17, but was then forced to miss the Standard Bank semifinal between the KZN Dolphins and Eastern Province, as well as the final against Northerns the following month. He also chose not to take part in the Champions' Cup limited-overs tournament in Perth, in which his province was defeated by Western Australia in the final, preferring instead to play in two exhibition matches in Cape Town against English counties Lancashire and Yorkshire.

"The finger will be a funny shape for the rest of my life," he said, indicating his curved pinkie, "but it stood up very well to the two matches in Cape Town. I didn't get to bat for very long in either match, but I took a couple of catches, made some stops and everything seemed fine."

Rhodes has been in intense training for the last three weeks under the watchful eye of Kingsmead Academy manager Andrew Shedlock. "He's striking the ball very nicely and looking pretty fit," said Shedlock who declared himself satisfied with his progress.

Rhodes has earned himself some good-natured ribbing from some of his team-mates following mild criticisms he made on his personal internet website where he has been writing daily match reports on the Tests.

"I suggested that maybe the guys hadn't been taking the singles and rotating the strike as well as they might have done. I got a brisk e-mail back from Jacques Kallis, Lance Klusener and Mark Boucher saying they're the proper Test batsmen now and that they'll work out their own problems," Rhodes said with a grin.

Rhodes remarked that he had a long-standing agreement with Klusener that whoever was dismissed first in any partnership they had would have to buy the other a drink afterwards. Up until the tour of the West Indies, Rhodes conceded that he was constantly having to put his hand in his pocket.

"But (in view of Klusener's poor series with the bat) I've told Lance now that he owes me," he laughed.

Notwithstanding the jocularity, many feel that Rhodes has a point, and that despite the series win, Rhodes' presence was missed in the South African middle-order, not least for the sense of urgency that he can supply.

"People have asked me whether I missed Test cricket. I can honestly say that, looking back at the Test series against New Zealand and Sri Lanka, I didn't feel there was anything I could have offered the team. But it wasn't like that in the West Indies. Obviously the guys did well to win the series, but it was often touch and go and I do think I could have made a difference."

Is there a suggestion here of regret, and perhaps a desire to return to the Test arena?

"Look, two of the main reasons for my retirement still hold true. I'm not getting any younger and my body is taking increasing strain these days. My aim is still to get through to the 2003 World Cup and I'm not at all sure that playing both Test and ODI cricket would allow me to do that. Secondly, playing one-dayers allows me to be away from my family for shorter periods than if I was still playing Tests."

Rhodes cited Daryll Cullinan as the batsman who regularly got it right on the slow, uneven pitches in the West Indies. "He showed the guys how not to get bogged down. He is a master at choosing his angles.

"I don't think the major venues are essentially boundary-hitting grounds. You need to drop the ball and run, look for the gaps and put pressure on their bowlers.

"Playing on those grounds is not simply about occupying the crease because sooner or later you're going to get an unplayable ball. So you have to try to be positive."

Few will forget the third day of the fourth Test in Antigua when Dinanath Ramnarine bowled a marathon spell of negative leg-spin into the footmarks outside the right-hander's leg stump. Only 127 runs were scored in 90 overs that day as South Africa marked time during a day of great tedium. It is hard to imagine Jonty Rhodes ever allowing himself to be restricted in such a manner.

However Rhodes recognised that it will be easier in the one-dayers. "The mindset is different. In the Tests, it was often a matter of simply wanting to survive on those pitches. In the one-dayers you have to score quick runs.

"Having won the series, we will also be emphasising in team talks that players go out and express themselves. We've got a lot of talented players, and some of them have been restricting their natural strokeplaying ability in the Tests. I think that will change now."

Will he move straight back to his favourite position at point? "Yes, I think so," he said, "and Herschelle (Gibbs) will move to midwicket." With Rhodes, Gibbs and McKenzie on patrol, South Africa will be exceptionally well-served in the fielding department - one area where their superiority over the home team has been established already.

© The Daily News