Ken Borland

Peter Siddle would like nothing better than to chop through South Africa's top-order.

Fast bowler Peter Siddle was a competitive woodchopper at school in Gippsland, the large rural area east of Melbourne, a quintessentially Australian pursuit that one can safely say does not feature in the extramural activities of many South African schools.

His parents gave him his first axe when he was just two years old and, although he is no longer a woodchopper, Siddle brings many of the strengths he learnt from those days into Australia’s favourite summer sport.

He goes at batsmen with the same aggression, he is indefatigable and, despite being a lean machine who has converted to a vegan diet, has considerable strength and stamina.

And the 29-year-old has plenty of character too: His tussles with the South African batsmen in the summer of 2008/9 were epic viewing and the Wanderers crowd chanting “Siddle is … a wanker” remain fresh in the memory. Apart from his undoubted qualities as a bowler, there is something of the pantomime villain about Siddle, who is a most likeable fellow off the field.

“I think we’re similar to the South Africans in that we do play aggressively. Intimidation can work against anyone, we’re fortunate to have someone like Mitchell Johnson, and at those speeds, batting is hard work whatever the conditions,” Siddle says.

Siddle will be one of the star attractions of the thrilling late summer that lies ahead, but, having played 51 Tests now, he is a clever bowler these days. He has erred in the past by bowling too short too often, but Siddle now tends to keep the ball full and straight and uses a swift, well-directed bouncer as a nasty surprise.

Australia’s slide began after that 2008/9 home and away series against South Africa and a couple of coaches have paid the price for their indifferent form. A 5-0 whitewash of England suggests they may have turned the corner, but the opposition did throw in the towel in feeble fashion and South Africa at home should provide a real test of their new order under Darren Lehmann and Michael Clarke.

They certainly seem a more settled outfit.

“As a whole, the team is a lot more suited to our plans now. We’ve come a long way, with a couple of personnel changes, we’ve got back to a couple of older boys in the bowling attack. The Ashes showed how far we’ve come,” Siddle says.

“We need to stay a lot more patient, with both bat and ball. We’ve bowled very consistently as a group, Nathan Lyon has done so well at the other end and the three quicks have been able to bowl fast, short spells.”

Siddle chuckles at the suggestion that the English batsmen were soft and says the Australians know the South African batting line-up is a formidable one, but plans have been set in place.

“We know it’s going to be a tough series, we’re going to have to be consistent over four or five days, building pressure and not letting them get away with partnerships.

“It makes us a bit more happy that Jacques Kallis won’t be there because his record speaks for itself. He’s one of the greats and, although it’s disappointing not to play against him, it’s a nice feeling not having to bowl at him!

“But there are still plenty of others to take his place and we’re going to have to work hard, South Africa are number one for a reason. Like Faf du Plessis, who gave us a really tough day in Adelaide 18 months ago. That showed the character of the player, he enjoys the challenge. But we have a bit more understanding of him now and I’ve no doubt we have good plans to bowl to him,” Siddle says.

Siddle said talk that South African pitches were different to those they were used to Australia was wide of the mark.

“The Gabba, Melbourne to an extent and Hobart are all very similar to here with the ball moving around. But it’s still about bowling the right line and length and I think we’ve achieved that in the last six months,” he says.

The eater of 15 bananas a day is famous for the tight line he employs just outside off stump, with the occasional mean delivery banged in [he famously hit Gautam Gambhir on the head with his first ball in Test cricket], and seems to thrive on the hard, unglamorous work of Test bowling.

His batting has also improved markedly and last March he became the first number nine batsman in Test history to score a half-century in each innings of a Test, against India on a turning track in Delhi.

The Victorian who took a hat-trick against England on his 26^th birthday is the archetypal determined Aussie and the three-Test series is definitely the better for having him in it.

After being “pretty pathetic” on his two previous visits to South Africa, Scotland’s Craig Lee has a share of the Joburg Open lead after two rounds of the European Tour co-sanctioned event at Royal Johannesburg and Kensington Golf Club.

Lee held a share of the lead after shooting a seven-under-par 65 on the East Course in the opening round and, after an intriguing day in Johannesburg’s eastern suburbs, he was still at the top after adding a 67 on the West Course on Friday, although now there is only one other golfer alongside him.

Italy’s Edoardo Molinari is the other man at the top of the leaderboard on 11-under-par, having shot a 68 on the East Course, while the other overnight leaders – Justin Walters and Alastair Forsyth – have both dropped back to nine-under-par.

“It’s my third time here and I don’t normally play well at all in South Africa, my record here is actually pretty pathetic, although it’s probably a course that should suit me.

“Obviously the goal today was not to fall back, there’s a strong field behind that will always come at you. On four-under through the bend I had a good chance to distance myself from the field, but I didn’t capitalise,” Lee said.

David Horsey of England fired a brilliant 63 on the West Course to soar to 10-under-par and a share of third place with George Coetzee, the leading South African who is finding his way back into top form after six weeks out with a broken wrist.

There are two other locals in the top 10, with Andrew Georgiou and Walters tied for fifth on nine-under-par with Danny Willett, Roope Kakko, Forsyth, James Heath and Jin Jeong.

The golfers are finding the West Course more of a challenge than in previous years and amongst the casualties on the supposedly easier 18 holes were two-time champion Charl Schwartzel, who could only shoot a 70 to make the cut on the mark at four-under.

Defending champion Richard Sterne, who also won the title in 2008, slumped to a 73 on the West Course and missed the cut by one stroke, while former SA Open winner James Kingston shot 75 and missed by six shots.

“The wind blew today which makes the West Course a bit tougher than usual and the greens more bumpy,” Coetzee said.

The 27-year-old has eight top-three finishes in the last three years on the European Tour but is still looking for his maiden title and he admits that the push for first place affected him negatively last year, when he finished 54th on the order of merit.

“Last year I tried to force it and my finishes went from good to worst, so that definitely doesn’t work. Now I’m just trying to get into contention, staying patient,” Coetzee said.

Coetzee has dropped just one shot over the first two rounds, so clearly the patient approach is paying dividends, but he was still hard on himself at the halfway stage.

“I’m still upset about that one shot! Just for once I’d like to go through a tournament with no bogeys. Plus it feels like you’ve dropped shots when you don’t make the most of opportunities, and I had a lot today, a lot of putts shaved the hole,” Coetzee said after shooting a 68.

“I felt I played a bit better yesterday, but I’m more or less where I want to be and looking forward to the weekend. It’s just a question of hitting fairways and making putts. Just hit a lot of good shots and hope the birdies come,” Coetzee said.

Horsey had an impressive haul of eight birdies, four on each nine, adding a 63 on Friday to his 70 in the first round and he said the difference was the putter being able to get the ball in the cup with minimum fuss.

“I played really nicely in the first round but the score didn’t do it justice. I went out with the same approach today and, even though there are some easier holes, I played it very similarly. I was a little bit more aggressive today, but I made a whole lot of putts and that was it, hey presto!”

But the in-form Molinari, a two-time winner on the European Tour, is in the pound seats at the moment: sharing the lead, feeling good and having the experience of having done the job before.

“It was another very good round of golf today, and I hit the ball very well. Maybe not as well as yesterday, but I gave myself a lot of chances, which is what you have to do around the East Course. I am very pleased with four-under today.

“It’s still two rounds to go, but I like the way I am hitting the ball. I made a few putts today, but the most important thing is to keep hitting the ball like this.

“I’m very happy with pretty much everything. I missed a few putts, but that always happens and the greens are not perfect, to be honest. I am very happy with my position and my game right now,” Molinari said.

One man who certainly wasn’t happy with his game was veteran Frenchman Thomas Levet.

After missing a one-foot putt for bogey on the eighth, he suffered a mental breakdown, hitting the ball off the green in the opposite direction to the hole, smashing a sand-wedge over the green and then, after a couple of other angry hacks at the ball, he inadvertently sunk a backhand sand-wedge.

Levet then stormed off the course for an early bath, citing a sore back.

He will surely find himself in hot water as the European Tour certainly don’t look kindly on such boorish behaviour.

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Those people who have portrayed the Knights as a franchise in freefall have ignored the valid reasons, and gross misfortune, which afflicted their performances this summer, according to chief executive officer Johan van Heerden.

The Knights finished fifth in the Sunfoil Series, winning just two of their 10 matches, and fourth in the Momentum One-Day Cup, winning three of their 10 games. But those figures fail to take into account the horrendous run of injuries and bad weather that stalked the central franchise almost throughout the season.

Living in Bloemfontein or Kimberley, one doesn’t expect prolonged bouts of rain, but the Knights had two home One-Day Cup matches abandoned without a ball being bowled, leaving them an agonising one point short of a playoff place.

In the four-day competition, the Knights opened their campaign by having the better of a draw against the defending champion Titans in Kimberley, but then had matches washed out on successive weekends in Paarl, Pietermaritzburg and East London.

Once they could get on the field, the Knights were actually in reasonable form and, strangely enough, the only two Sunfoil Series matches they lost were in Bloemfontein, against the Warriors and the Cape Cobras.

As if the weather was not a bad enough blow to the hopes of the franchise, it also suffered an extraordinary run of injuries.

Morne van Wyk scored a century and Reeza Hendricks a half-century in that opening match against the Titans, but it would be the last game they played as the veteran wicketkeeper/batsman badly injured his shoulder and the young top-order prospect broke his ankle.

With Dean Elgar often on national duties, it meant the Knights had lost almost their entire first-choice top-order.

“Serious injuries hit us. We had the whole season planned but then we had to go without key players like Morne van Wyk and Reeza Hendricks. Those are quality players who are extremely important to our set-up,” Van Heerden said.

“Unfortunately, their replacements were not able to front up and Rilee Rossouw and Obus Pienaar became our most senior batsmen. But they are still struggling with things in their own games and that’s why we were 25 for four too often. If the other top-four batsmen had been there, it would have taken the pressure off them.”

Pace bowlers Quinton Friend and Dillon du Preez also suffered injuries at inopportune times, and Ryan McLaren was also often absent with the national team.

But the good news after a tough season in Bloemfontein and Kimberley is that all but two of their players have opted for the safety of renewing their contracts with the Knights.

Unfortunately, the two players leaving are both batsmen – Van Wyk and Ryan Bailey.

Van Wyk has been a great servant of Knights cricket and is the franchise’s leading run-scorer with over 4000 runs, but he will be relocating to Durban.

“Morne has never left Bloemfontein, he never played county cricket, and he believes he has maybe two years left in his career, so he just wants to play in a different area,” Van Heerden explained.

And Bailey, whose double-century in the opening round of Sunfoil Series matches accounted for over half of his total runs and he only managed 71 runs in six innings in the One-Day Cup, declined a one-year contract from the Knights and will take up a two-year offer from the Eastern Cape Warriors instead.

These departures – and the fact that the likes of Johan van der Wath and Du Preez are also coming to the end of their careers – would be a real pain in the neck for Van Heerden, were it not for the really cosy situation the Knights are in in terms of the talent coming through just below franchise level.

The Free State team have excelled in the amateur competitions, mounting a strong challenge in the three-day league, reaching the final of the one-day tournament and making an unbeaten start to the T20s.

The likes of Gihahn Cloete, Rudi Second, Michael Erlank, Patrick Botha and Corne Dry have already featured in the Knights team, while Pite van Biljon, Duanne Olivier, Keagan Rafferty and Romano Terblanche are waiting in the wings.

“The youngsters can see that there are spots opening up for them and the policy of the board is that if two players are on an equal footing, then we go for the younger player. We have a youth policy for the franchise and we want to lure youngsters here, we have great arrangements for that in place with the University of the Free State and the Central University of Technology,” Van Heerden said.

An example of this is the Ewie and Hansie Cronje Project which provides a bursary for a promising cricketer and student to study at UFS.

“The bursary pays for three years’ study and pocket money and their equipment is paid for too. They must be athletic and have the potential to study further, because we believe people who qualify with a degree become better decision-makers.

“It provides specialised training and physical monitoring for young fast bowlers and it was the idea of Paul Harris [the top banker], especially the scientific side, and he has funded it along with Johann Rupert and Rembrandt,” Van Heerden explained.

The excellent schools in the region are still providing the talent, with Diego Rosier and Rafferty being recent SA U19 captains and either of them could be playing for the Knights next summer.

The mood is certainly positive in the central region, despite the hardships of the last summer and the bigger picture is healthy, according to Van Heerden.