CENTURIES and five-wicket hauls capture the imagination in cricket, and rightly so.

But during this week’s Champions Trophy action the fact that some bloke was out without scoring – and with his first ball at that – was almost headline news.

Easily explained: it was South Africa’s AB De Villiers, who was out to his first delivery for the first time in his one-day international career.

Everyone has a stinker from time to time, it just took 200-plus ODI matches and around 12 years for his to come around.

It is not that cricket fans, be they casual or fanatical, were delighting in the Proteas’ captain’s failure to register a score (although Pakistan spinner Imad Wasim who had him caught at point will surely have been as overjoyed as he was surprised).

It is just that de Villiers’ wicket is much-prized around the world, such has been his ability in all forms and with all aspects of the game.

Opening the batting to get his team off to a flier in a T20 match? Check. Taking the gloves as a stand-in wicketkeeper in Tests? Done that too. Becoming one of the most feared fieldsmen in the game? Absolutely, reminiscent of Jonty Rhodes. He could probably prepare a top-class wicket or knock up a decent lunch or tea if required.

Granted, his bowling is not going to give the top batsmen sleepless nights but he has shown a willingness to turn his arm over when his team has needed him to.

But his batting has nigh-on revolutionised the game, particularly in limited-overs cricket. With a range of orthodox and manufactured shots at his disposal a bowler’s lot these days has become an unhappy one.

Quite the all-rounder, he recently set the record straight about his, er, records in other sports, outing claims (on the internet, no less) he made junior national teams in football, rugby and hockey, held junior South African records in swimming and athletics, won a national championship in badminton and played in the juniors’ Davis Cup.

The man himself has debunked these outlandish rumours in his book ‘AB: The Autobiography’ (at least his shot selection is more imaginative than his literary achievements) but admits his golf handicap and junior national tennis ranking were both one at various stages of his life.

Quite the renaissance man, he does have a lesser-known string to his bow.

In 2010 AB released an album, apparently of power ballads and love songs, Maak Jou Drome Waar, which translates as ‘Make Your Dreams Come True’.

I cannot offer any sort of critique of said collection, so I can only pay tribute to one of the finest and most adaptable players cricket has ever seen, and although at the age of 33 he is not in the ‘up-and-coming’ bracket while he has been wielding the willow the limited-overs game has changed dramatically.

Three hundred is not an outstanding score from 50 overs any more, thanks to terrific players such as de Villiers.

When he does finally hang up his bat a host of bowlers will breathe a massive sigh of relief.