Boje keeps on riding the wave

Stand Springbok and Golden Lions scrumhalf Werner Swanepoel next to Nicky Boje in a reasonably well-lit room and you'd be hard-pressed to tell the two apart. The link goes further than simply their shared close-cropped dark hair and toothy grins.

Ten years or so ago when both were at Bloemfontein's Grey College, Swanepoel was scrumhalf to Boje's flyhalf for both school and province. Both, self-evidently, have gone on to greater heights.

And for both, 2000 has been a pretty good year. During this year's TriNations tournament, Swanepoel's form kept Joost van der Westhuizen on the bench and, but for injury, he'd probably be the first choice scrumhalf in the Springbok side that left for Argentine this week.

Boje, meanwhile, has had the time of his life this year, since playing in his second Test match in Bangalore in March. He went in as nightwatchman to score 85 and then took five wickets as South Africa secured an innings victory and a rare series triumph in India.

Boje claimed the man of the match award for that performance, was named man of the series on the three-game tour of Australia in August and picked up another man of the match award in the Singapore Challenge final against Pakistan. Then he turned his attention to New Zealand, scoring two centuries and a 50 in the first three games.

"I don't think too much has changed this year," he reflected at his Durban beachfront hotel this week. "If you're on the sidelines for a long time (Boje made his one-day international back in 1995 against Zimbabwe) it makes you want it more."

For five years, though, Boje was the second string to both Paul Adams in the Test team and Pat Symcox in the one-day side. Surely he must have wondered if ever his time was going to come?

"Not really. When Bob Woolmer was still coach he told me after Pat stopped that I would probably take over his role. I was never left out in the wilderness. They told me that I was good enough to play, just hang tight."

Boje has always been viewed as a "package" player, a bowler who fields well and can bat a bit. He sees himself differently, as a batsman who also bowls. As a left-arm spinner who turns the ball away from the right-hander, he believes he has something that most teams value, but as a schoolboy he had five years in the Free State schools team and three years in the South African Schools team as a batsman.

His recent run with the bat started in the Singapore final when he went in at four and scored 54. "They (coach Graham Ford and captain Shaun Pollock) asked me how I felt about going in a bit higher. I was hardly going to say no."

And from there it's been onwards and upwards. Many all-rounders argue that success in one discipline doesn't necessarily lead to success in the other. Boje, however, believes that his form with the bat has helped his bowling.

"If you're scoring runs, then you're relaxed when you bowl. And if you're a spinner, the last thing you want when you bowl is to be tense. The really nice thing about batting at three in the one-day side has been being able to play some shots in the first 15 overs and then settling down to bat properly. It's worked quite well for me so far."

The point about runs of form, though, is that they always and inevitably come to an end. "Ja, that's true. But the way I look at it is when you're on a wave, you just have to try and ride it as long as you can." Nicky Boje's own Endless Summer, perhaps?