Ontong a great catch for SA squad

“HE called me to ask if he should take it and I told him it is a no-brainer.” That was Proteas outgoing bowling coach Charl Langeveldt’s advice to new Proteas fielding coach Justin Ontong.

The two Bolanders have been teammates and close friends for a long time, going as far back as during their time together when they helped the Winelands province win the now-defunct Standard Bank Cup in 1999-2000 season, with Ontong barely out of his Paarl Gymnasium school uniform.

They then moved to the Highveld Lions together, before returning to the Western Cape after both enjoying a taste of international cricket. In the blue and gold colours they cemented their status as Cape Cobras legends.

Langeveldt and Cobras coach Ashwell Prince believe Ontong will be a great asset to the Proteas and coach Ottis Gibson’s management team.

“At 37 years old Justin is still possibly the best fielder in our team,” said Prince. “That says a lot not only about his great fielding ability, but also his high work ethic and standards he sets for himself. He will expect the same of the players he works with,” said Prince.

“He will add great value to the Proteas. Not only as a fielding coach, but having been a captain for so long, he also understands the game, especially limited-overs cricket and the dynamics related to what difference fielding can make to when games are decided by the smallest of margins.”

Ontong was still part of the Cobras’ contracted squad. Only a couple of months back he struck his 26th first-class century and followed it up with scores of 59, 0, 64, 69 and 49 in the Sunfoil Series.

Prince is glum about losing Ontong. “He scores 100s and in first-class cricket that is worth its weight in gold,” Prince said. “Fortunately, the middle-order is an area we have lots of depth in at the Cobras.”

Ontong now drops out of the Cobras squad for the RamSlam T20 Challenge matches against the Highveld Lions (today, 6pm, Wanderers) and the Titans (Sunday, 2:30pm, SuperSport Park).