Rodney Ontong
Encyclopedia
Rodney Craig Ontong is a former first-class cricket
er who played for Glamorgan County Cricket Club
in England and various South African teams.
Ontong, who was coloured
, originally came to England from South Africa to pursue a football career and had trials with Chelsea
in the early 1970s. He didn't impress enough to join their books, instead turning to cricket, as he had been having success as a club cricketer in London. The South African earned a place on the MCC
groundstaff and coach Len Muncer
later recommended him to Glamorgan, Muncer's former county. Ontong made his Glamorgan debut against the touring Australian team at Swansea in 1975. From 1977 he was a regular in the Glamorgan side and would return to South Africa at the conclusion of each English summer to play more first-class cricket.
Early in his career he was a right-arm fast-medium pace bowler but in 1983 he took up off-spin for the first time and it became his preferred craft. Around the same time Ontong moved from the middle and lower order to the number three position. Following Mike Selvey
's sudden retirement halfway into the 1984 season, Ontong became captain of Glamorgan and he finished the summer with a career best 74 wickets. He also achieved his highest first-class score that season, an innings of 204 not out against Middlesex at Swansea.
He had arguably his best season in 1985 when he won the 'Cricket Society Wetherall Award' for the 'Leading All-Rounder in English First-Class Cricket' after making 1121 runs at 48.73 and taking 64 wickets at 27.76. In a match against Nottinghamshire at Trent Bridge he took figures of 5/39 and 8/67 as well as scoring 130. At the time he was just the second Glamorgan cricketer to achieve the feat of making a century and taking 10 wickets in a first-class match.
As Ontong had met the qualifying requirements to represent England in international cricket, he was said to have been close to being picked as the country's Test all-rounder and was also in consideration for a spot in their 1987 World Cup squad.
Over the course of his career at Glamorgan he passed 1000 runs in a season on five occasions and was their 'Player of the Year' in both 1982 and 1985. While in Wales he met and married the daughter of former Glamorgan player Jim Pressdee
.
In August 1988, Ontong was badly injured in a car accident when he was travelling from Essex to Northamptonshire. The damage to his knee ended his career at Glamorgan although in the early 1990s he appeared in some matches for Northern Transvaal, a team he would go on to coach. He has also served as the Director of Coaching at Gauteng.
Rodney Ontong is not related to South African Test cricketer Justin Ontong
.
First-class cricket
First-class cricket is a class of cricket that consists of matches of three or more days' scheduled duration, that are between two sides of eleven players and are officially adjudged first-class by virtue of the standard of the competing teams...
er who played for Glamorgan County Cricket Club
Glamorgan County Cricket Club
Glamorgan County Cricket Club is one of the 18 major county clubs which make up the English and Welsh national cricket structure, representing the historic county of Glamorgan aka Glamorganshire . Glamorgan CCC is the only Welsh first-class cricket club. Glamorgan CCC have won the English County...
in England and various South African teams.
Ontong, who was coloured
Coloured
In the South African, Namibian, Zambian, Botswana and Zimbabwean context, the term Coloured refers to an heterogenous ethnic group who possess ancestry from Europe, various Khoisan and Bantu tribes of Southern Africa, West Africa, Indonesia, Madagascar, Malaya, India, Mozambique,...
, originally came to England from South Africa to pursue a football career and had trials with Chelsea
Chelsea F.C.
Chelsea Football Club are an English football club based in West London. Founded in 1905, they play in the Premier League and have spent most of their history in the top tier of English football. Chelsea have been English champions four times, FA Cup winners six times and League Cup winners four...
in the early 1970s. He didn't impress enough to join their books, instead turning to cricket, as he had been having success as a club cricketer in London. The South African earned a place on the MCC
Marylebone Cricket Club
Marylebone Cricket Club is a cricket club in London founded in 1787. Its influence and longevity now witness it as a private members' club dedicated to the development of cricket. It owns, and is based at, Lord's Cricket Ground in St John's Wood, London NW8. MCC was formerly the governing body of...
groundstaff and coach Len Muncer
Len Muncer
Bernard Leonard Muncer, born at Hampstead on 23 October 1913 and died at Camden Town on 18 January 1982, was a cricketer who played for Middlesex and Glamorgan....
later recommended him to Glamorgan, Muncer's former county. Ontong made his Glamorgan debut against the touring Australian team at Swansea in 1975. From 1977 he was a regular in the Glamorgan side and would return to South Africa at the conclusion of each English summer to play more first-class cricket.
Early in his career he was a right-arm fast-medium pace bowler but in 1983 he took up off-spin for the first time and it became his preferred craft. Around the same time Ontong moved from the middle and lower order to the number three position. Following Mike Selvey
Mike Selvey
Mike Selvey is an English former Test and county cricketer, and now a cricket writer and commentator. Selvey played in three Tests for England between 1976 and 1977...
's sudden retirement halfway into the 1984 season, Ontong became captain of Glamorgan and he finished the summer with a career best 74 wickets. He also achieved his highest first-class score that season, an innings of 204 not out against Middlesex at Swansea.
He had arguably his best season in 1985 when he won the 'Cricket Society Wetherall Award' for the 'Leading All-Rounder in English First-Class Cricket' after making 1121 runs at 48.73 and taking 64 wickets at 27.76. In a match against Nottinghamshire at Trent Bridge he took figures of 5/39 and 8/67 as well as scoring 130. At the time he was just the second Glamorgan cricketer to achieve the feat of making a century and taking 10 wickets in a first-class match.
As Ontong had met the qualifying requirements to represent England in international cricket, he was said to have been close to being picked as the country's Test all-rounder and was also in consideration for a spot in their 1987 World Cup squad.
Over the course of his career at Glamorgan he passed 1000 runs in a season on five occasions and was their 'Player of the Year' in both 1982 and 1985. While in Wales he met and married the daughter of former Glamorgan player Jim Pressdee
Jim Pressdee
James Stuart Pressdee is a former Welsh first class cricketer. He was a left arm spinner and aggressive right-handed batsman....
.
In August 1988, Ontong was badly injured in a car accident when he was travelling from Essex to Northamptonshire. The damage to his knee ended his career at Glamorgan although in the early 1990s he appeared in some matches for Northern Transvaal, a team he would go on to coach. He has also served as the Director of Coaching at Gauteng.
Rodney Ontong is not related to South African Test cricketer Justin Ontong
Justin Ontong
Justin Lee Ontong is a South African cricketer, who currently plays domestic cricket for the Cape Cobras. He has played two Tests, 26 One Day Internationals and two Twenty20 Internationals as an all-rounder.-Cricket career:...
.