Ken Borland

HARARE – Martin Vorster was on a rock-solid two-under-par for his round after his first seven holes on Friday, but a raucous run around the turn in which he picked up four birdies and then an eagle helped catapult him to the top of the leaderboard after the second round of the FBC Zim Open at Royal Harare Golf Club.

The Mossel Bay representative began his round on the 10^th hole and made another eagle on the par-five sixth hole before parring his way in for a phenomenal 62, his best ever round in his 52^nd Sunshine Tour event. That lifted Vorster to 12-under-par at the halfway mark of the R2.5 million event, one stroke ahead of Darren Fichardt (66) and Michael Hollick (67).

Vorster responded in style to a grungy first round that included four bogeys to offset six birdies. On Friday he made birdies at the 10^th, 12^th and 14^th holes, before his only dropped shot, a four at the par-three 15^th. But the 22-year-old then made sweet music with four straight birdies at 17, 18, one and two, before his eagle at the 475m par-three third.

Veteran Fichardt sounded a warning in the morning about his challenge, firing a six-under 66 that included eight birdies, being joined on 11-under-par by Hollick, who posted a 67 that included a good little run of his own when he birdied four successive holes from the fifth to the eighth.

Anthony Michael also shot a 67 to lie fourth on 10-under-par, while first-round leader Jaco Ahlers slipped back a bit with a 71 that left him on eight-under.

Kieran Vincent was the leading Zimbabwean as his 67 lifted him to six-under-par, alongside South Africans JC Ritchie (69) and Combrinck Smit (70) in the tie for sixth.

The poor old national selectors are not being helped by the players at the moment as they look to pick up the pieces following the Proteas’ humiliating T20 World Cup exit at the hands of the Netherlands, their next foes being arguably the meanest of the lot – Australia in Australia.

Even without the T20 turmoil and the nagging feeling that Test cricket – where South Africa are in strong contention to make the World Championship final – is being neglected more and more by the powers-that-be in this country, taking on the Aussies in their backyard over Christmas has always been the benchmark for the Proteas. Their victories there have been amongst the most memorable and impressive of their achievements.

I still believe the greatness of a cricketing nation is measured by their Test results, and seeing how the likes of Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Virat Kohli and Ravi Shastri prioritised making India the No.1 Test side in the world, or the hype around the Ashes, I am sure there are millions who agree with me.
For such a high-intensity series, selection is always going to be under the microscope by the fans, and the selection panel are certainly being given a hard time by the ‘cognoscenti’ for the composition of the 16-man squad that will leave on December 1.

Cricket being such a statistics-based game, there will always be runs and wickets with which to put forward one’s case, but it is very difficult to argue with miraculous acts. Ryan Rickelton, ruled out of the tour by the CSA medical committee due to an ankle condition they believe will need surgery some time soon, scored his second successive century for the Central Gauteng Lions on Friday, and then kept wicket, seemingly untroubled by an injury that has been described as “very serious”.
By not being willing to risk Rickelton, who would be back-up wicketkeeper to Kyle Verreynne, due to the time and distance required to replace him if his ankle does suddenly implode, the selectors have opened the door for Heinrich Klaasen to return to the squad. He celebrated by smashing an extraordinary 292 off just 240 balls against the Free State Knights.

But it his Titans team-mate Theunis de Bruyn whose return to the Test squad has raised even more eyebrows. His last Test was three years ago in India and his domestic form hasn’t exactly screamed ‘RECALL!’ since then – he has made just three centuries and one fifty in the last three seasons.

Perhaps De Bruyn owes his selection to two things: He is a specialist No.3 and the Proteas need someone to fill the gap left by the injured Keegan Petersen, and new interim coach Malibongwe Maketa has seen the 30-year-old at his best for the SA A team he has been coaching – De Bruyn averages 69.70 in 14 innings for the national second-stringers.

What Maketa won’t be seeing before they arrive in Australia though is Temba Bavuma, Kagiso Rabada and Anrich Nortje preparing for such an important tour for South Africa’s hopes of appearing in next year’s World Test Championship final.

Bavuma and Rabada have both declined to play for the Lions. Given that they were two of the most under-performing players in the T20 World Cup, one would think they could do with getting some confidence back by bossing matters at domestic level, especially Bavuma, whose morale is low and will be targeted by the Australian media.

Meanwhile Nortje is playing T10 cricket in Abu Dhabi, would you believe. There were other Proteas players who reluctantly donned their whites this week ahead of the vital Australia series.

It really is time that Cricket South Africa started to lay down the law with the Proteas who complain about not having enough red-ball cricket to hone their longer-form skills, but then would rather not play for their provinces when the opportunity presents itself.

They will now have one warm-up match in Australia to prepare themselves and will then no doubt be surprised when they begin the Test series in rusty fashion.

DULLSTROOM, Mpumalanga – When Tandi McCallum tore through the front nine at Highland Gate Golf and Trout Estate on her way to a seven-point victory in the Sunshine Ladies Tour section of the Vodacom Origins of Golf ProAm, one could not help but cast one’s mind back to the evening before the first round and her comments as she spoke about how sports performance coach and mental wellness therapist Joanne Mountford has helped her regain peak form.

Mountford, who has been working with the South African women’s hockey team for their World Cup and Commonwealth Games campaigns, is also the Sunshine Ladies Tour’s coach and therapist for the player wellness programme sponsored by BetWay. Because Vodacom firmly believe that Health is Wealth, Mountford was invited as the keynote speaker for the Vodacom Origins of Golf Series ProAm at Highland Gate.

McCallum was on hand to back up Mountford’s methods, and her ProAm victory in the Dullstroom mountains was her third in a row, testament to the success of the player wellness programme.

“It’s crucial to understand what makes you tick, and Jo’s programme makes it very apparent what functions best in your game. If you’re always working on what you’re not good at, then you kind of end up chasing your tail,” McCallum said.

“It’s about consistency and how I manage myself and what I’m good at. It’s about keeping on track and staying in the flow with myself. She has given me techniques I can tap into that lead to better results.

“It had been a while since I had won and I felt like a bridesmaid for three years, getting into contention several times but then just not pushing through. You always find that there are one or two shots down the stretch that make the difference.

“As golfers, we know the value of each and every shot, but you also don’t want to put yourself under pressure. So when your thoughts start running away with you, that’s when I use Jo’s breathing techniques,” McCallum said.

As all golfers know, it can be the most frustrating of hobbies for those who play it socially, but imagine the pressures when it is your livelihood.

“It’s actually very difficult to just play one shot at a time, you can’t help but think about how winning might change your life, extend your playing privileges, get you into certain tournaments etc,” McCallum said.

“So it’s about staying in control of your thoughts and emotions for 18 holes. When I won again, I was leading by three and I was thinking ‘it’s great to be here’, but I was very nervous.

“You need reassurance that what you are doing is working and something as simple as controlling your breathing can get you over the line,” McCallum said before putting it all into practice and sweeping to another victory.

“I try and give the golfers actionable goals so they can stay focused in the moment,” Mountford explained. “I try and help them get rid of anything that hinders, like even perfectionism, which can be great, especially in a golf swing, but there can be a point where you need to let go, otherwise the mind can be very destructive.

“Pressure leads to anxiety, which feeds your sympathetic nervous system which activates fight or flight. So I work with their breathing so they activate their parasympathetic nervous system, which brings their heart and breathing rates down,” Mountford said.

Sbu Nkosi was born in Barberton 26 years ago and will now wear a Barberton Daisy on his rugby jersey, saying on Thursday that he believes a move to the Bulls is just the fresh start he needs to return to being the top-class wing who helped win the 2019 World Cup.

Nkosi famously filled in for an injured Cheslin Kolbe in the World Cup semi-final against Wales, but then did not play in the Tests against the British and Irish Lions last year and has endured a rotten run of injuries and illness this year. Given his limited playing time for the Sharks, it is unlikely that Springbok coach Jacques Nienaber still sees him as being in the top three wings for the national team.

“Injuries happen but it’s a chance for me to completely reset and build afresh, being here is a massive chance to be part of a good thing going on in Pretoria,” Nkosi said at Loftus Versfeld on Thursday.

“I am very grateful to the Sharks, they are the reason my career has gone the way it has, they developed me and taught me to be a man. But moving to the Bulls is the best decision for me.

“I felt like a new chapter needed to be opened so I can get my career back to the Sbu Nkosi everyone knows. It doesn’t matter what union you play for when it comes to making the World Cup squad.

“That is judged purely on performance and I need to be fit and ready to play to even start thinking about being in the reckoning for selection,” Nkosi, who arrived on crutches following ankle surgery but was sporting an extremely smart navy blue jacket with a pocket square in the light blue colour of his new team, said.

Nkosi was headhunted by Bulls director of rugby Jake White to replace Madosh Tambwe, who is heading to Bordeaux Begles, the pair having first met while the wing was at Jeppe High School. Nkosi said he was honoured to be coming to such a proud union and was determined to do the business on the field.

“Jake and I have a relationship that dates back to high school and he actually signed me to the Sharks straight from school. We agree on certain values, which was a big motivating factor to come here.

“In a way I’ve come full circle and I want to be part of Jake’s work, dig into his mind a bit. The general mix in the Bulls’ style of play is extremely exciting, they are getting it right.

“It’s always nice to be at a place with a full trophy room and the Bulls have a legendary legacy. I understand the history and that rugby is like the fourth meal of the day here in Pretoria!

“I feel very privileged to be picked out by a coach like Jake and I’m looking to improve my decision-making, which is a very crucial part of the game. Keeping a cool head at the right time is what separates players. Understanding the game is way more important than a sidestep,” Nkosi said.