Change is as good as a holiday for The North West Dragons batsman, Raynard van Tonder, who has let his bat do the all talking the CSA Division 1 One Day Competition this season.

After spending seven seasons in the Free State, Van Tonder moved North to the Dragons for the 23/24 season. This decision is now paying off and since his Dragons debut he has proved to be a valuable asset.

So far, he is the leading run-scorer in the competition with 256 runs at an average of 128, which includes an unbeaten century (129*) and two fifties in three matches.

Van Tonder, a former Grey College Old Boy and SA U19 captain, mentions that he has a lot of confidence and feels good about his batting after putting in hard work over the past few years.

“I’m happy I was able to start the season with a couple of runs, but this is just the beginning. Hopefully I can continue for a longer period,” he says.

He feels the move to the Dragons was the right decision and mentions that he is enjoying his new surroundings.

“The facilities are very good, the coaches work incredibly hard to make sure they give us the best chance to perform. There is a very strong positive relationship between the players so I’m really looking forward to what lies ahead for the Dragons.”

This batsman is also constantly improving his game, never feeling completely satisfied.

“There are a few things that coach Neil Levenson (Dragons batting coach) and I are working on at the moment. This includes opening up more boundary hitting options and then just focusing on the basics like my swing. This is a longer process and it’s being worked on every day.”

He also says that he is very relaxed and takes it ball by ball to win games for the Dragons, without putting external pressure on himself to score runs.

“If I focus on my processes, I will get runs and then inclusion for the Proteas will happen when the time is right.”