Ken Borland

Former World Cup winning flyhalf Joel Stransky is far from suggesting it is all blue skies with the standard of South African domestic rugby at the moment, and he says the Springboks have a perfectly good pair of No.10s in Handre Pollard and Elton Jantjies, and yet he still believes in-form Bulls pivot Morne Steyn needs to be chosen for the squad to play the British and Irish Lions in July.

Springbok coach Jacques Nienaber is set to call on more than 40 players for the Springbok squad and Steyn has been involved in the alignment camps held by Nienaber and director of rugby Rassie Erasmus. The 36-year-old star of the 2009 Lions tour has played a pivotal role in the Bulls’ dominance of local rugby over the last year and he produced a man of the match display when they hammered the top-of-the-log Sharks last weekend.

“Firstly, Morne was and still is a great player. But if Pollard and Jantjies were both here and firing, we probably wouldn’t be having this conversation. But there is a bit of concern over the flyhalf position and there should always be a place for that kind of experience and the way Morne’s delivering on the field at the moment – the way he’s controlling the game, leading from No.10.

“So I absolutely think he should be involved but will he be our No.1 flyhalf? I think if Pollard is fit then he’ll be first-choice, but Morne could maybe even be involved in a mentoring capacity, or as back-up. You know what you’re going to get with Morne, and he is standing up and shining, no mater how weak or strong you think the local competition is,” Stransky told The Citizen on Monday.

While there is no shred of a doubt that Pollard is playing in a top-class league for Montpellier in the French Top 14 and will be appearing in the Challenge Cup final this weekend, Jantjies was outstanding for relegation-threatened Pau last weekend, scoring 19 points and nearly steering them to an upset win over the formidable Racing 92 team.

Stransky believes domestic rugby in South Africa has been a hit-and-miss affair.

“The quality has not been great, although there have been some good signs at times, and that has maybe allowed a guy like Morne to shine. If our rugby was fast and furious, of tiptop quality, then we maybe would be having a slightly different conversation. But I don’t feel our games have been of the highest quality. But you also can’t deny Morne is standing up and delivering,” Stransky said.

Cricket South Africa owe a great deal of thanks to the Brexiteers of the United Kingdom as their efforts have led to the return of some top-class players just as the domestic game heads into a new-look, uncertain future.

Because Brexit engineered Britain’s exit from the European Union, all Kolpak deals fell away and South Africans playing county cricket in England could no longer do that unless it was on the basis of them being registered as overseas players. Which would then allow them to play in – and for – South Africa.

And so the likes of Simon Harmer (Northerns), Kyle Abbott (Boland), Stiaan van Zyl (Boland), Duanne Olivier (Gauteng), Wayne Parnell (WP) and Hardus Viljoen (Boland) are all returning to the domestic game. Coupled with Hashim Amla and Vernon Philander coming out of retirement to play for Western Province and Chris Morris signing a contract with Northerns, it means a raft of invaluable experience and quality is returning to provincial cricket, which can only be good.

Some of those players have only been able to secure a one-year contract though, because the teams were only allowed to give out eight two-year contracts out of their squad of 16.

In terms of these players’ availability for the Proteas, there is nothing technically stopping them from being called up. Although some of them, most notably fast bowler Olivier, left South Africa in awkward circumstances. As an organisation, Cricket South Africa had the right to feel snubbed in certain cases.

National coach Mark Boucher was asked recently specifically about Olivier’s chances of a Proteas recall and what he described would apply to all of the returning players.

“A lot of things need to happen. He needs to show form in our system, we can’t judge him on what he’s done in the past for South Africa or overseas. Then we need to ask whether he fits into our culture, will he show good attitude and are the other guys happy to have him. If he can tick all those boxes then we would welcome him back,” Boucher said.

When the North-West cricket team return to the top division of domestic cricket in October, they’ll have good reason to believe their batting line-up is not going to be knocked over cheaply thanks to the acquisition of one of the most admired batsmen of the franchise era.

Heino Kuhn was the sixth highest run-getter in the history of franchise cricket, his 7209 runs at 40.50 for the Titans putting him behind only Stephen Cook (8678), Andrew Puttick (7832), Justin Ontong (7583), Vaughn van Jaarsveld (7503) and Neil McKenzie (7263). The 37-year-old is still a prolific run-scorer and he averaged 67.33 for Kent in county cricket last year.

Kuhn will provide some invaluable quality and experience to the North-West top-order batting, along with Imperial Lions star Nicky van den Bergh. They are the standout names in the batting line-up, which boasts some quality all-rounders in Senuran Muthusamy, Delano Potgieter and Dwaine Pretorius, and an exciting, explosive batsman in Wesley Marshall, who has tasted success at franchise level despite limited opportunities with the Titans and Lions.

“North-West has great facilities in Potchefstroom and because it’s a new franchise that will bring new challenges. I see a lot of new names in the squad so hopefully I can bring some knowledge and experience to the group. But I am excited to be playing with some young guys.

“As you know, I don’t change the way I play, so if I’m the only experienced batsman or there’s five experienced batsmen around me, I will play the same way – be positive and bat with intent. I don’t really know how the new structure will work, but all I know is that we are in the First Division and together with Nicky and the coaching staff we will do whatever we can to win trophies and stay there,” Kuhn told Saturday Citizen on Friday.

Muthusamy’s arrival from Durban, where his left-arm spin and solid batting played a key role in the Dolphins’ triumphant season, is another major acquisition for North-West. They have also lured the promising left-arm quick Duan Jansen back from Bloemfontein to his birthplace, and he will join former Lions stars Eldred Hawken and Nono Pongolo in a useful seam attack.

What a victory for the Dolphins in the 4-Day Series final and, while home ground advantage clearly played a big role in their triumph, that is not why they won the premier domestic title.

The Dolphins ended the franchise era on top of the pile because of their indefatigable fight and belief, and an enormous amount of skill and hard work. In the well-deserved clamour over the spectacular performances of spinners Prenelan Subrayen and Senuran Muthusamy, who took 19 of the 20 Titans wickets (the other one being a run out), it is easy to forget how wonderfully well the Dolphins had to play just to first make the final and then to ensure it was staged where they could bring into play their greatest strength.

The Kingsmead pitch has completely changed character over the last 20 years and is now the most sub-continental of venues in South Africa, allowing the Dolphins to use their brilliant spinners to dominate visiting teams.

But in order to get into the final and then host it, people may forget that the Dolphins had to win back-to-back games at the Wanderers and St George’s Park, two of the toughest venues for away teams. The brilliant Keshav Maharaj had much to do with those victories.

Before that they beat the then high-flying Knights at Kingsmead, fast bowler Daryn Dupavillon taking 11 wickets to prove the Dolphins aren’t just one-trick ponies. Winning your last three matches outright is surely the sign of a champion side.

Having overcome the odds just to get into the final, the Dolphins seemed destined to have to share the title with the Titans after only 10 overs were able to be bowled on the first two days due to rain. When the Titans  began their first innings on the penultimate day, replying to a solid 295 by the Dolphins, there were not much more than five sessions left in the match.

The Titans swear that they were trying to be positive and not just bat for the draw, but in no time at all they were thoroughly entangled in the Dolphins’ spinners’ web and shot out for a record low score of just 53.

The Dolphins then had plenty of time to bowl the Titans out a second time and ensure they had the last trophy of the franchise era all to themselves.

It is just reward for all the good things going on at Kingsmead and the shares of coach Imraan Khan and CEO Heinrich Strydom have understandably risen considerably over the last year.

While the loss of the famous old Kingsmead greentop will be mourned in some quarters, and we do need to keep some of those sort of pitches going in our country, I am all for having a venue at which spin bowling is trumps. The Proteas have suffered so many calamities on the subcontinent in recent years that learning how to play in those conditions is clearly a priority.

More and more cricket will be played on the subcontinent in the years to come, so if South Africa are to challenge for global silverware, they have to master the skills needed on low, slow, dusty pitches that turn.

We need a variety of surfaces in our domestic cricket and I remember well how exciting it was in the 1980s and 90s when Kingsmead was the Green Mamba, St George’s Park and Newlands brought the spinners into play, Wanderers and Centurion had pace and bounce, and places like Bloemfontein and Potchefstroom were batting tracks which made the bowlers toil.

With the introduction of Boland and North-West into the first division for next season, Potchefstroom will be back and let’s hope Paarl will back the spinners and be a result pitch.

Having qualified for all three finals this season and taken away silverware in two of them, the Dolphins, playing a brand of cricket they trust and have mastered, and enjoying a strong culture and environment around the team, will be backing themselves to continue their dominance in the new structure as well.