What I've learnt: Jonty Rhodes

The cricketer on being a team player, embracing new experiences and running around like a crazy fool

Sporting legend Jonty Rhodes, 41, is best known as a batsman and fielder. He played for the South African cricket team between 1992 and 2003, representing South Africa in four World Cup tournaments. Rhodes is currently the fielding coach for the Mumbai Indians, an IPL team, and coached the Kenyan national cricket team in the build-up to the 2011 Cricket World Cup. He lives in Cape Town and has two children.

If you only surround yourself with people who think the same things as you, who like the same things as you, you don't grow. I spend a lot of time travelling. I've learned to embrace the experience. I've grown as an individual by meeting people from different cultures who live in different circumstances. If you stay in your hotel room and never venture out, you learn nothing. I rode a motorbike through India and I met people who live with nothing but who still have a positive attitude. In Sri Lanka, I met a family whose house had been destroyed by the tsunami and were still waiting for new accommodation. They had no electricity, no fridge; they didn't want money, but they asked me to buy them powdered milk for their kids. I want my own children to see the kinds of things I'm seeing - that there's a world beyond gated communities.

Being a team player and doing what's best for the team isn't always the same thing. I was a good 12th man. I was good at getting things for the other guys. But my job was to score runs, and I didn't do that very well. I think my team would have benefited more if I'd had a higher batting average, not been an all-rounder. If you look back at my career, it was a very average average. It was an easy environment to excel in, at the time. It's harder for guys to get noticed now. People say nobody stands out anymore, but 90% of the guys field like me. They'd have to take a catch while doing a backward somersault to get the same kind of praise.

Relationships are about more than just respect. There needs to be a mutual appreciation of the other person's contributions - emotionally, financially and physically.

Work is different when you love what you do. While I was growing up, there was no South African team to play for. It wasn't even a dream. When I started playing for my country I didn't take enough pride in my performance, I was just having fun. I couldn't believe I was getting paid to do it. I went to the World Cup in 1992 thinking I'd be the 12th man - I was "Jonty who?". Then I dived into that wicket, and the picture made the front page of the papers. Suddenly I was a fielding phenomenon. With a terrible haircut. I got home and kids were asking for the "Jonty". I was still living with my parents and getting pocket money. I don't miss the salary - I miss the crowds, the atmosphere at a cricket match. It's one of the reasons I love the IPL so much.

I've always been the kind of guy who needed to run around like a crazy fool. If I go two or three days without exercise, I battle. I loathe being inside a gym - I need to be outside. I need to do stuff that scares me a little. I mountain bike and surf. I started surfing only about five years ago, so I still choose bad waves. I end up spending more time swimming than surfing. I'm not a "Sunday afternoon feet up on the sofa" person. I enjoy reading, but only during forced downtime, like when I'm on an airplane. If I do read, I tend to finish the whole book in one go. I read Ken Follett's The Pillars of the Earth pretty much in one sitting.

The Kenyan team plays cricket in its purest form. The guys are at the bottom end of the salary scale. And if you've ever experienced the traffic in Nairobi, you'll know they take their lives into their hands just getting to practice. They don't get to go to special cricket academies at the age of seven because they show potential. They may not be the best team in the world, but they play the game for one reason: because they love it - and they work just as hard as any other team, probably harder.