 Toward the end of his playing career, he played for and captained Natal.He became the first cricketer to score 5000 runs and to take 500 wickets in List A cricket history

Rice played for Nottinghamshire in the English County Championship in a side that also featured internationals Richard Hadlee and Derek Randall.As captain, he led the side to the County Championship title in both 1981 and 1987, winning the prestigious award of being named a Wisden cricketer of the year for his exploits in 1981.