The Proteas dismal performance in the cricket test series against India highlighted the importance of having a good allrounder in the team.
It could be argued that one swallow does not make a summer, but there is also no getting away from the role allrounders played to secure some fantastic victories for the Proteas.
The heroics of Jacques Kallis, Shaun Pollock, Lance Klusener and Brian McMillan immediately spring to mind. Unfortunately, it would seem as if allrounders in South African cricket have become an endangered "species".
Luckily at Assupol TuksCricket, the role of an allrounder is still being appreciated and rightly so. Two players' names immediately spring to mind.
Neil Brand has been instrumental in helping the team win the last two Varsity Tournaments. In September he was for the second consecutive year the Varsity player of the tournament. In nine games he scored 269 runs at an average of 38.4 as well as taking nine wickets (13.8 average).
He was not the only allrounder who contributed to the team's success. Ruan de Swardt partnered Brand with the bat in hand to help Tuks beat UJ in the Varsity-final. De Swardt ended up with a batting average of 62.5 for the tournament while also taking six vital wickets at an average of 20.8. In first-class cricket, the Assupol Tuks cricketer boasts with a batting average of 73.40. He has also taken 12 wickets.
De Swardt's versatility is going to be of cardinal importance from Sunday when the Assupol Tuks team competes in the Red Bull Campus Cricket Tournament in Dubai.
Since the tournament's inception in 2012 Assupol Tuks has been victorious on two occasions. They did so in 2014 and 2015. In 2016 they lost out in the semifinal.
De Swardt makes no secret about loving the challenge of playing T20-cricket. The tenser things tend to get during a game, the more he seems to enjoy himself. He appears to be able to flourish under pressure.
He describes himself as a batsman who values his wicket and as a bowler, he is at his happiest if he gets to complicate things for the batsmen making them worry as to how they need to go about defending their wickets.
"Once I step onto the field, there is the only thing that matters. That is to perform to the best of my ability for the team.
"My strength as a batsman is that I am capable of adapting to whatever is needed. If I need to go for the big shots to score quick runs, I can do so, but I am also able to hold up my end if that is what is required.
"Getting to bowl the last overs is always exciting as you got to think about each delivery because there are so many factors you got to take into account. Things can change from one delivery to the next."
Virtual Campus
Get Social With Us
Download the UP Mobile App