When the World Cup gets under way, only one surviving captain from the last tournament will lead his country out - Stephen Fleming.
Fleming led New Zealand at the 1999 tournament
Fleming skippered New Zealand in England back in 1999 and retains his position in South Africa for the six-week tournament.
"It's an honour because leading your side in two World Cups is something special," said Fleming, the first Kiwi to achieve the feat.
Of the 12 other captains, 11 of them have either retired, been sacked or become regular players in their national sides.
England were led in 1999 by Alec Stewart, whose role as one-day captain has since been taken by Nasser Hussain.
Similarly Steve Waugh has been replaced by Ricky Ponting, but Waugh failed to make the Australian squad altogether despite leading his country to the title in 1999.
Former South African captain Hansie Cronje is the most controversial absentee.
2003 World Cup captains
Australia: Ricky Ponting
Bangladesh: Khaled Mashud
Canada: Joseph Harris
England: Nasser Hussain
India: Sourav Ganguly
Kenya: Steve Tikolo
Namibia: Deon Kotze
Netherlands: Roland Lefebvre
New Zealand: Stephen Fleming
Pakistan: Waqar Younis
South Africa: Shaun Pollock
Sri Lanka: Sanath Jayasuriya
West Indies: Carl Hooper
Zimbabwe: Heath Streak
Cronje led his side to the semi-finals four years ago but was later banned after confessing to taking money from bookmakers to alter the course of matches.
Last year he was killed in a plane crash.
Mohammad Azharuddin failed to garner much success as Indian captain last time around and, like Cronje, was stripped of the captaincy following a life ban for match-fixing.
Only Azharuddin, Clive Lloyd of the West Indies and Pakistan's Imran Khan have captained their countries at three successive World Cups.
Wasim Akram and Brian Lara have both been stripped of the respective captaincies of Pakistan and the West Indies since the last tournament.
Wasim took his side to the 1999 final but has since been barred from leading his country after a match-fixing inquiry.
Lara was replaced by Carl Hooper.
Former Sri Lankan captain Arjuna Ranatunga has since retired from the sport.