Western Province improving says Nackerdien

His office at Sahara Park Newlands is neatly organised with files and folders. Each player in the squad has a file that is updated after every practice.

“I believe that players must be goal orientated,” said the former Boland and Impalas left-hand batsman. “When they practise they should be thinking about what they want to achieve.”

Promising three-day start

JAG Western Province has made a promising start in the three-day Cricket South Africa Provincial Competition with two wins and two draws, one of which was a rain-affected fixture against KwaZulu-Natal Inland in Pietermaritzburg.

In the one-day competition, two wins have been balanced with two defeats, one by a single run against South Western Districts and another against North West , in which Nackerdien believes his team squandered a winning position.

“There are quite a few positives. We are coming along nicely in the three-day competition in particular, but there is also plenty of room for improvement,” Nackerdien said.

A tough challenge awaits the side in Kimberley this weekend, where JAG Western Province will be up against defending three-day champions Griqualand West.

Demanding season

Altogether it is a demanding season, with the amateur competition expanded to a 13-match programme, compared to the six fixtures in recent seasons, which were followed by a four-day final and one-day semi-finals and final.

The busy programme has already reaped one casualty, with all-rounder Esmund van Wyk unavailable for the second half of the season because he is returning to full-time employment as a teacher.

Van Wyk's loss has been compensated for by the return of talented batsman Dominic Telo after a stint in English country cricket.

Among the players who have shone this season are opening batsman Alistair Gray and Yaseen Vallie, who along with all-rounder Vernon Philander have hit centuries in the first-class competition, and leg-spinner Abdul-Aziz Temoor, who is among the competition's leading wicket-takers with 17 at an average of 25.47. Philander's two matches in the amateur side brought him 14 wickets at just 7.48 runs apiece.