Ken Borland

Staying calm under pressure is probably the most necessary attribute needed to succeed at the highest level of sport and Marais Erasmus always gave the impression when he was umpiring out in the middle that he was in full possession of his faculties and emotions.

Getting 94% of your decisions correct – the general benchmark for being on the International Cricket Council’s Elite Panel of umpires – requires great composure and equanimity, as well as the ability to maintain credibility and authority in the highly-charged arena of the game at its pinnacle.

They are the qualities that Erasmus was most known for during his 16-and-a-half years as an international umpire. As renowned Indian commentator Harsha Bhogle says in the Foreword to the biography Telford Vice has written on the South African umpire – Marais Erasmus: The Rock ‘n Roll Years – “Apart from everything else, umpires, like doctors, must radiate confidence and a sense of calm. Marais Erasmus had that. When he walked out on to the field, you felt secure. You knew you were in safe hands.”

While the former Boland bowling all-rounder’s ‘bedside manner’ was imperturbable, Erasmus himself says it is a bit of an illusion.

“I didn’t set out to have a straight face all the time, and I did struggle sometimes not to show my emotions. But I couldn’t give away to the players that I was shitting myself, they do pick up that sort of thing.

“I just tried to apply the laws, even though sometimes a law is controversial. There are some grey areas in cricket, although less so than in rugby. I think it helps immensely to have been a former player, although it’s not a given that if you played good cricket you will become a good umpire – there are lots of other skills involved.

“Simon Taufel was one of the best umpires ever and he didn’t play first-class cricket, so potential umpires shouldn’t be discouraged if they didn’t play to a high level. But at the Elite level, on average 10 of the 12 on the ICC panel will have played first-class cricket, a lot of them have played international cricket. In South Africa, about 40% of our umpires are former first-class players. It means you’ve been in pressure situations before, the players will accept you more and that gives you confidence,” the former Boland flyhalf/fullback says.

The cricket world changed dramatically while Erasmus was progressing from a player who retired in 1996/97 to making his international debut as an umpire in 2006, standing in his first Test in 2010. In that time, the television umpire has become crucial, and the IPL arrived, making India the global superpower of the game. But, unfortunately, India have also not been shy to exert a “Might Is Right” philosophy on cricket and they are used to getting what they want. Which included not using DRS for their games until the absence of it had burned them too often.

Hostile crowds are matched by over-stimulated players like Virat Kohli, who occasionally lose their impulse control. One of India’s greatest captains infamously shouted into the stump-mics at Newlands in January 2022, accusing broadcasters SuperSport and the umpires of bias. Erasmus was standing in that match alongside compatriot Adrian Holdstock due to the Covid pandemic and the difficulties it caused in terms of international travel.

Erasmus had to give Sachin Tendulkar out lbw in his debut Test, thankfully not in India, where international cricket’s leading run-scorer is literally considered to be a god. These are also the days of social media allowing millions of people to dissect and criticise every decision. The officials can be crucified in the court of public opinion should they get the wrong decision wrong at the wrong time. Just think of how we South Africans curse referee Bryce Lawrence to this day for giving David Pocock free rein in the breakdowns during the 2011 Rugby World Cup quarterfinal.

So Erasmus experienced pressure right from the outset and his ability to handle it saw him appointed to the middle for seven World Cup finals across the formats, including the greatest of them all, the 2019 finale’ at Lord’s when England and New Zealand tied and England won the super over.

“Virat was like some of the kids when I was teaching. You give him Ritalin in the morning and you’ll have a good day. But sometimes by second break it’s gone … But we had a good relationship. David Warner is a dangerous man because he doesn’t understand when he’s being stupid and Ricky Ponting always wanted to fight with umpires,” Erasmus says.

Nathan Lyon is someone Erasmus singles out as a favourite, the Australian off-spinner saying on a live television interview that “Marais is a great man and an even better umpire,” when former captain Mark Taylor asked pointed questions about decisions that did not go their way.

Ben Stokes is another who Erasmus found to be likeable and the recently-retired England captain was, of course, pivotal in that 2019 World Cup final.

“Ben is one of my favourites. When you go to a team’s practice, some of the players ignore you but others come up to you. Ben would always ask how the last few months have been, how’s your family? He’s a good human being, although he has got himself in trouble and been through some fires on occasion.”

The details of the drama of the overthrows off Stokes’s arm and the full explanation as to why England were credited with an extra run they shouldn’t have been, are all in the book. Typically, Erasmus does not shy away from accountability.

“The overthrow incident was just a mistake. Kumar Dharmasena and I looked at each other and said ‘Six? Yeah’. Rod Tucker, the TV umpire, asked over the comms whether it was six and Peter Manuel, who was our umpires coach, was trying to explain that where the ball was released was crucial. But that was impossible for me to see.

“Part of the romance of our sport is that the umpires are not without blemish. The only way to survive as an umpire is not to dwell on your wrong decisions. Our coaches used to tell us to park them; my one New Zealand colleague then said ‘but my parking lot is full’.”

In Marais Erasmus: The Rock ‘n Roll Years, the subject brings that same voice of reason and gentle humour to corruption in cricket, the rise of technology and the many memorable Ashes clashes he was involved with.

DULLSTROOM (Mpumalanga) – Young Jonathan Broomhead lit up the Highland Gate Golf and Trout Estate on Sunday with his 65, but it was veteran Jean Hugo who stayed calm and made the vital putts to emerge victorious by one stroke in the Vodacom Origins of Golf Highland Gate Mpumalanga event.

The 48-year-old Hugo birdied the par-five 18^th hole, thanks to a brilliant chip-shot, for a two-under-par 70 that left him on 13-under-par for the tournament. Broomhead’s fantastic round, which included nine birdies but a costly double-bogey on the par-four sixth hole, had lifted him to 12-under-par.

Overnight leader Louis de Jager was also on 12-under as he teed off with Hugo on the final hole, but he ended up making bogey on 18 to finish in a tie for third on 11-under.

Hugo clinched an astonishing 12^th victory on the Vodacom Origins of Golf Series, and his 20^th Sunshine Tour title overall, his third shot on 18 being a superb chip to a foot of the hole from the right of the green.

“Fortunately I hit a good drive and I was in two minds whether to lay up or go for the green with 216 metres to the flag. I took a chance and went over the water, hitting it on the other side of the sluit down the right with a gripped-down four-iron. I then hit a brilliant chip,” Hugo said.

“My best putt of the day was on 16 though, where we all struggled. Louis lost his ball and I had to hack out of the cabbage a couple of times, we were on the clock as well, and I sank a putt for bogey from more than 15 feet. And on 17 I made another clutch putt for par.

“We made it tough for ourselves with those stumbles and there was a bit of pressure. But I’ve been playing well lately, if I could just putt well then my scores would be even better. I used to be the best putter on tour, but now anything under 30 putts for a round is good. I was bogey-free the first two rounds and my first bogey today was on the ninth, so I was hitting the ball very well,” Hugo, who only had 27 putts on Sunday, said.

De Jager was in hot form on the front nine, going out in three-under, but he bogeyed the par-five 11^th and dropped two shots on the 16^th, before closing with another bogey, having hit his drive into the left rough.

Between 2006 and 2015, Hugo was probably the hottest golfer on the Sunshine Tour with 16 victories. But Sunday’s triumph was his first since 2019.

“To have 12 Origins of Golf titles and 20 overall on the Sunshine Tour is what I’m most proud of. I got to 17 quite quickly, but then only won again in 2019 and then there was Covid and in 2020 I had a massive ankle operation.

“But I’ve been working hard and it’s nice to see the results. I can now aim to hit a certain shot and pull it off, it’s about technique and trust way more than just relying on talent. I’ve come close to winning these last few years, but I’m just delighted that I didn’t give it away today. As long as you fight out there, you can be happy,” Hugo said.

Luke Brown (70) and Kyle de Beer (71) shared third place with De Jager, while 20-year-old Gabrielle Venter shot an outstanding five-under-par 67 on Sunday to finish in a tie for 16^th on six-under-par, leading the way for the Sunshine Ladies Tour players. Danielle du Toit (70) finished tied-29^th and Lora Assad (71) was in a share of 44^th place.

In a mad 4-Day Series final that ended at the DP World Wanderers Stadium on Sunday, it was the #PrideOfJozi that stayed calm, fought with tremendous tenacity and emerged victorious with a 99-run win over Western Province.

In an epic final that swung in favour of one side and then the other, the DP World Lions men’s team managed to bowl World Sports Betting Western Province out for 208 on the final day, left-arm spinner Bjorn Fortuin taking five for 69 in 26 overs.

It was the most remarkable of turnarounds, considering the Lions were 35 for five after losing an important toss and having to bat first, under floodlights, on the first morning. Trailing by 87 runs on first innings, they were then 113 for six in their second innings before improbably making it to 394.

The hero with the bat in both DP World Lions innings was all-rounder Delano Potgieter, who scored 81 on the first day and a magnificent 155 not out in the second innings, one of the great performances in domestic finals.

“I am really proud of the whole squad,” triumphant coach Russell Domingo said. “It was a real squad effort because a guy like Mitchell van Buuren didn’t play in the final but was one of our leading run-scorers, Duanne Olivier one of our leading wicket-takers and Wandile Makwetu also made a big contribution.

“The guys fought extra hard in this final for those who weren’t playing, they dug really deep and I am so proud of them. We showed really good character, we had to be tough mentally, stick to our game-plans and fight hard. We had to stay calm.

“This will be a game we will think about in 20 years time and it’s one of the best wins I’ve experienced. I’ve been involved in some amazing wins – Bangladesh in New Zealand, the Proteas in Australia – and this is right up there,” the well-travelled Domingo said.

The DP World Lions head coach had special praise for Player of the Match Potgieter, who may have felt for most of the season that he was a player on probation. With Wiaan Mulder not being selected for the Proteas as much as he would have liked or the Lions expected, Potgieter’s appearances have been limited.

But coming in at the crucial back end of the campaign, the 27-year-old has made vital contributions in the four matches he has played, scoring 290 runs at an average of 96.66 and taking 11 wickets at 29.45.

“Delano was magnificent. He only played a few games but he did really well last week in Centurion and he brought that confidence here. He only came in because Wiaan couldn’t bowl and we needed that fourth seamer. And then he plays one of the best final innings you’ll ever see,” Domingo said.

“It’s definitely a dream come true,” a beaming Potgieter said. “To have my career-best at the Wanderers, in a final, is next level. I feel amazing and I can’t really explain how it happened. I’m just so happy for the team and for myself.

“It’s been a hard season for me because I have not played much, but Hashim Amla [batting coach] said if I keep working hard then the rewards will come. And the final brought exactly that. But it’s amazing, what a time to do it when conditions were obviously not easy.

“But big credit to Wiaan, Codi Yusuf, Temba Bavuma, Bjorn and Malusi Siboto for batting with me so well. The lower-order, with Tshepo Moreki also scoring a fifty as nightwatchman, played an incredible role and I could not be more proud of them.

“It was a great win, unbelievable really and I could not be more happy to win a trophy in my first season back with the Lions, and it’s the hardest trophy to win,” Potgieter said.

Temba Bavuma has made a tremendous start to his tenure as South Africa’s white-ball captain, and Keshav Maharaj was also excellent when standing in for him, but it is heartening to know that if they are unfortunately unavailable for any reason, there is another calm, deep-thinking leader in the team who could do the job with aplomb.

Rassie van der Dussen has cemented his place in the limited-overs teams in spectacular fashion and his heroics in the recently-completed ODI whitewash of India leave him with 1267 runs in 26 innings in the 50-over format, at the extraordinary average of 74.52.

The second oldest of four sports-mad brothers, Van der Dussen was first touted as leadership material during the horrors of the 2019 World Cup in England. Amidst a chaotic campaign, the Pretoria product impressed with his cool head and clear thinking, as well as the three half-centuries he scored in six innings, finishing the tournament with an average of 62.

That same composure and ability to adapt to any situation was clearly evident during the memorable Test and ODI series wins over India. There were times Van der Dussen had to dig in defiantly; on other occasions he turned the momentum through positive strokeplay and no little skill.

“The Test series was definitely the toughest conditions I’ve ever had to bat in and it was high pressure with the Indian bowlers just never letting you go,” Van der Dussen told Saturday Citizen.

“Every session seemed to be more important than the last, every moment things could swing the other way. It was extremely mentally testing. But being mentally strong is something I pride myself on.

“Under pressure I need to be level-headed and to analyse the situation objectively. Throughout my career I’ve believed that I can manage the chase, absorb the pressure when the opposition is bowling well.

“I pride myself on performing in the big moments and matches. It maybe comes from playing club cricket in Pretoria from a young age, playing against men. There was often verbal abuse and you had to deal with it,” Van der Dussen said in typically stoic fashion.

The 32-year-old currently has the highest average in ODI history of all batsmen who have played at least 20 innings and when one looks at some of the other superstars near the top of that list – Virat Kohli (58.77), Babar Azam (56.92), Michael Bevan (53.58) and AB de Villiers (53.50) – one thing characterises them all. They are all expert players of the situation, whether it called for consolidation or acceleration.

Many other just as talented batsmen ended with inferior records because they would only play in one way, arguing that that was their “natural game”.

“A batsman can be labelled with that – ‘that’s just the way he plays,’ people will say. But it can also be a cop-out,” Van der Dussen said.

“Whenever I bat, I try to change the match and there is always a certain amount of responsibility you have to accept. It’s about reading the match situation and working out what is needed.

“That’s always my thing: to put the team in a good position to win the game. At the Wanderers Test, I knew Dean and I had to be in overnight, the runs did not matter at the end of the third day. But then we were able to start well the next day.”

The way Van der Dussen stayed calm and clear-headed under immense pressure from India was in stark contrast to visiting wicketkeeper Rishabh Pant, a great talent who twice got out for ducks at crucial times on tour due to wild forays down the pitch to try and slog the bowler.

Van der Dussen admits he did have a few words with Pant, who ‘caught’ him in the first innings of the Wanderers Test when the ball had clearly bounced, but the phlegmatic Central Gauteng Lions star did raise the bar above petty sledging.

“I like to think I’m a deep thinker and I just asked Pant a few questions, nothing attacking him personally, but I guess they did not sit well with him. I suppose it made him think differently.

“But the Wanderers incident was a massive moment because chasing 280-300 would possibly have been too much for us and he’s a young and exciting player. We did speak about making sure that was a moment India would really regret and capitalising on it,” Van der Dussen said.

It will surprise no-one that someone as pragmatic as Van der Dussen already has a plan for life after cricket and has gone into business with his agent and close friend Chris Cardoso.

“I’m really enjoying delving into the business side and we now have three coffee shops – called Abantu Coffee – in the Centurion area. Our aim is to make good coffee and create as many jobs as we can.

“I really want to scale up my involvement in it and I enjoy being hands-on in the business,” Van der Dussen said.

Something else that the Menlo Park High School and Affies alma mater enjoys immensely, along with wife Lara, is the bush and especially birdwatching.

Even in that hobby, Van der Dussen is trying to make a change for good with his support of the Mabula Ground Hornbill Project, along with Cardoso.

“I go to Mabula about twice a year, Chris owns a unit in Mabula and through our conservation fund African FRDM x Environment we are helping them with the great work they do in trying to secure a good future for these endangered birds.

“We’ve helped them with new tyres and in trying to build suitable nest boxes that are strong enough for these massive birds and their huge beaks.

“I’ve loved the bush from early on because my grandfather had a farm with game and cattle at Springbokvlakte between Modimolle and Marble Hall. Growing up amongst animals I learnt things like tracking.

“Which got me into birdwatching because of the thrill of the chase, you hear the call and you want to track the bird down and see it. For Lara and I, seeing a rare bird gives us the same feeling as seeing a lion or a leopard,” Van der Dussen said.

But for now, dreams of spending more time in the bush have had to take a back seat because Van der Dussen is spotting both the red and the white ball extremely well at the moment.