Mark Boucher is still such a highly-respected member of the South African test team that the selectors have not yet begun a succession plan for him, judging by the squad to tour New Zealand that was announced on Wednesday.

JP Duminy replacing Ashwell Prince is the only change to the test squad that featured against Sri Lanka and it is now almost inevitable that Boucher will go to England in July as the first-choice wicketkeeper.

Convenor of selectors Andrew Hudson told SuperCricket on Wednesday that the option of a back-up to the world record-holder had not been discussed.

“We didn’t want to look too far ahead and I don’t want to speculate on the England tour. At the moment, this is our best squad and if we try and look to the England tour then we’ll be looking too far ahead. We considered this tour in isolation and we’ll pick for the future as and when we need to,” Hudson said.

“That’s why there is no reserve wicketkeeper for the test side, but having AB de Villiers in the wings does help.”

Critics of Boucher – whose batting has come under the most scrutiny – should remember that the feisty veteran made an important 65 in the first test against Sri Lanka on a treacherous Centurion pitch. But those same critics will point to how his batting average has dropped from 54.28 in 2009/10 to 15.83 in the five tests played this season. And those rare misses behind the stumps have now increased to occasional.

There had been a school of thought that the selectors should have named a second wicketkeeper for the New Zealand tour and, depending on how Boucher performs in the three tests, at least the back-up would not be a total rookie for the daunting England trip.

Saying goodbye to someone who has performed so exceptionally and been such a vital part of the team for so long is always terrible, but South Africa will need runs – as well as safe catching – from their wicketkeeper in England, where it is not unusual for a team to be four down by lunch in the often overcast, seam-friendly conditions.

While the test squad is as expected, it is in the limited-overs squads that the selectors have made the most interesting changes.

Justin Ontong – who proved a great finisher for the Cobras en route to their One-Day Cup title with his clever hitting rather than big hitting – has been recalled for both the ODIs and the three T20 internationals.

It has been nearly three years since Ontong last played for South Africa, but his recall feels right given that he has just turned 32 and has been one of the most dominant batsmen in domestic cricket.

“Justin has matured as a player, he spent some time back in domestic cricket, but he’s had a great run, which is very heartening,” Hudson said. “Sometimes a player can maybe be exposed early on, but they can come back later when they understand their game better and are more mature.”

Ontong is likely to slot inside the middle-order, competing with the likes of Faf du Plessis and Albie Morkel for a place in the ODI team.

While Jacques Rudolph and Duminy currently have the inside track for the number six spot in the test team, Hudson hinted that Ontong was not too far off that squad either.

“The number six position has not yet been secured, it’s still open and we look forward to someone grabbing that spot and making it their own,” the former opening batsman said.

There are also clearly moves afoot to refresh the T20 side, with Ontong, Richard Levi and Marchant de Lange all receiving call-ups.

There is a changing of the guard at the top of the order, with Graeme Smith omitted and Cobras star Levi slated to open the batting in his place.

Jacques Kallis has also been rested from the shortest version of the game, but Hudson said there could still be room for both him and Smith in the squad for the ICC World T20 in Sri Lanka in September.

“I’m not closing the door on people, if someone’s good enough, they will play. We’ll still be choosing squads to go to Zimbabwe and England so there are still opportunities to mix-and-match.

“We’ll be going for consistency closer to September but we have quite exciting possibilities in terms of openers with Hashim, Richard, Jacques and Graeme,” Hudson said.

As Smith showed in the last two ODIs against Sri Lanka, it would be stupid to write him off as his experience and big-game temperament could be crucial in the World T20.

Ernie Els is certain that the eight-man South African contingent will have a big advantage playing on home ground in the European Tour’s Volvo Golf Champions event teeing off at Fancourt on Thursday.

The winners-only invitation event has been moved from Bahrain to George due to political unrest in the Middle East, and the South Africans are licking their lips at the prospect of playing for two million euro on a course they all know well, Fancourt being one of the country’s premier tracks.

Els spends his Christmas holiday every year in nearby Herold’s Bay, while Louis Oosthuizen and Branden Grace both come from the Southern Cape and Retief Goosen spends plenty of time here too. Hennie Otto, Garth Mulroy, Thomas Aiken and Charl Schwartzel also have plenty of experience of playing on the Links.

“Local knowledge will definitely come into play here, especially when the sea-breeze picks up, and it’s definitely an advantage for myself, Retief and Louis because we’re here on vacation every year and we know the course,” Els said at Fancourt on Wednesday.

And if there’s anyone determined to make that home-ground advantage count, it’s Els, who is coming off a poor year and played several rounds at Fancourt during December.

“We’ve been coming down here now for the last 22 years, so it’s home for us as a family. I played all of December here, so I have a good feel for the course. Knowing the course is also a big advantage,” Els said.

The three-time major winner has dropped out of the top 50 on the world rankings – he’s currently 71st – and it was his victory in the 100th staging of the South African Open in December 2010 that earned him his spot in the 35-man field.

The awful prospect of not qualifying for the Masters looms large for the South African legend, and The Big Easy is certainly not happy with the situation.

“You lose your sense of humour when you’re not putting well and I’d like to get that back. If I can get the putter working, then you’ll see me smiling more.

“But my work ethic and determination are more than ever. The last season was dismal and I really want to turn things around and win some tournaments.

“A lot of people are reminding me that, at the moment, I’m not in the Masters. I know where I stand in the rankings, I don’t need reminding. But I’ve got a couple of months to rectify it – you don’t want to be asking for an invitation to Augusta, so I’ll just have to qualify!” Els said.

South African Branden Grace played with admirable calm to win his first European Tour title when he won the Joburg Open at Royal Johannesburg and Kensington Golf Club by one stroke with a final round of level-par 72.
Grace, playing his 50th European Tour event, finished on 17-under-par, one stroke ahead of Briton Jamie Elson, who catapulted himself into second place with an outstanding nine-under-par 63.
The 23-year-old Grace began the final round with a three-stroke lead over compatriot George Coetzee and Briton Richard Finch. They were all playing in the final three-ball after weather delays on the first three days of the 1.3 million euro co-sanctioned event.
But Finch crashed to a six-over-par 78, three-putting three times on the front nine, to end nine shots off the pace.
Coetzee closed to within two shots of the lead with birdies on the fifth, sixth and eighth holes, but the burly South African faded on the back nine after a double-bogey on the par-four 13th when he hooked his approach shot into the water. The world number 80 finished with a 75 to close on 11-under-par in a tie for 14th.
Grace, a former member of the Ernie Els Foundation, put together nine straight pars on the back nine to hold off Elson and six golfers who finished in a tie for third on 14-under – Scots David Drysdale and Marc Warren, and South Africans Jaco van Zyl, Trevor Fisher junior, Dawie van der Walt and Michiel Bothma, his cousin.
The pressure of leading seemed to affect Grace at the start of the final round as he bogeyed the par-three second hole. But a wonderful approach shot to within eight feet on the 389-metre par-four ninth hole set up a birdie that seemed to settle the former South African amateur strokeplay champion.
“I played superbly today, my approach shots were amazing. I stuck to my game-plan and kept hitting good shot after good shot. I couldn’t dream of better approach shots than what I played on the last five holes,” Grace told reporters after his triumph, which earned him 206 050 euro.
Grace’s back nine was the epitome of solid golf under pressure as he made no mistakes off the tee and was superb with his irons. The margin of victory would have been greater if Grace had not narrowly missed a number of birdie putts.
“The opportunities were there, but I told myself first of all not to mess up and then to just keep giving myself chances. I struggled to get the lines exactly right, the greens were immaculate, but if you were a little bit off, you ended four feet away.
“Obviously it’s awesome to win, it’s been coming a long time and it’s really nice to have the first win back home. The hard work has paid off and my consistency has paid off,” Grace, who earlier this week won the Gary Player Trophy for best stroke average on the Sunshine Tour, said.