Hylton Ackerman, who passed away last week, was not a very well known name among cricket fans, but those who played with him and knew him well believe he was one of the true characters of the game.

Ackerman did not have the good fortune to wear his country's colours in international cricket. He would have in all probability, had South Africa not been banned during the apartheid years. But he made it to the Rest of the World (ROW) team, which toured Australia in 1971-72. Fans of India's batting legend Sunil Gavaskar would have heard of Ackerman because he opened the batting with the Indian master for ROW.

Ackerman battled a kidney ailment and was on dialysis for the last few years of his life. Thanks to the Gavaskar connection, I was tempted to interview him in South Africa, 2006. A phone call to him was a pleasant experience, but he expressed his inability to meet me due to his illness and dialysis. A recent report suggested that he gave up his fight in a dialysis room in Cape Town.