Ermelo-born former ATP tennis player John-Laffnie de Jager sat down with The South African’s Dave Marshall to discuss his experiences of playing cricket for the ‘South African tennis players’ against the ‘Australian tennis players’.
De Jager said several Proteas cricketers would attend the Australian Open when their tours coincided with the tennis calendar.
“I had a lot of South African cricketers who were friends,” he said.
“Normally, when the Australian Open was on, they were also here playing. So, when they toured Australia, it often lined up with the tennis.”
Hansie Cronje-led Proteas side
Among the regular attendees were members of the Hansie Cronje-led Proteas side, who developed a keen interest in tennis.
“They all came to the tennis. They all liked the tennis,” John-Laffnie de Jager said.
The crossover extended beyond the stands, with impromptu cricket matches organised at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.
“We used to play a cricket match at the MCG – South Africa against Australia,” he recalled.
“It was all the South African tennis players against the Australians.”
Despite being tennis professionals, the South Africans proved competitive.
“We had about 17 guys in the top 100 in the world in doubles at the time,” he said.
“We won twice here. They beat us when we played them at Wimbledon.”
Good hand-eye coordination
Asked about the quality of the cricketers involved, he acknowledged their natural skill.
“There were a lot of good cricketers – good hand-eye coordination, obviously,” John-Laffnie de Jager said.
Several South African tennis players also had strong cricket backgrounds. Wayne Ferreira played provincial cricket, while the interviewee himself competed at provincial level as both a bowler and an all-rounder.
Cricket doesn’t always reward the straight line. Sometimes, the players who arrive at the top take the longest route to get there.
“I learned that early,” said De Jager.
“My province was South-Eastern Transvaal. In reality, I almost never wore their colours. Not because I wasn’t good enough – but because I was always unavailable. Tennis kept pulling me away, season after season, and I missed provincial trials every year. No trials meant no selection. Simple as that.
“Or so I thought.
“One year, two school coaches – from completely different schools – picked up the phone and changed everything.
“They called the selectors and asked a simple question: Why not create an invitational team for players who were injured or unavailable during trials?
“That call opened a door I didn’t even know existed.
“I was selected for that invitational side, and what followed was a strange but unforgettable four-year run. Every year, while I missed out on my home province, I made the invitational team. From there, we went to Nuffield Week, where every province in the country competed and selectors watched everything.
“And every year – all four of them – I was selected from that pool into the final team: Transvaal Country Districts.
“It was an unconventional route, but it put me right in the middle of South African cricket’s best young talent,” John-Laffnie de Jager added.
Facing the Future Proteas
Nuffield Week was where reputations were made – and exposed.
“We played against everyone: Western Province, the traditional powerhouses, and players who would go on to become household names. Guys like Shaun Pollock and Nicky Boje.
“My batting was always stronger than my bowling, but nothing prepared me for the first time I faced Shaun Pollock.
“We’d all heard the stories. Then he ran in.
“The first ball went past my head – I didn’t see it. The second ball brushed past my arms – still didn’t see it.
“The first time I realised where the ball had gone was when I heard it smack into the wicketkeeper’s gloves.
“That’s when I thought: I’m not spending long out here.
“So, I went the only way I knew how. I attacked.
“I hit him for four fours in a row – a drive, another drive, then I sat back waiting for the bouncer and hooked it cleanly. Not long after that, I was out. But I’d had my moment.
“Pollock was fast. Proper fast. The kind of pace that teaches you very quickly what elite cricket actually feels like.”
My Favourite Wicket
“If Pollock was about survival, Nicky Boje was about obsession.
“Boje was seeing the ball beautifully that day, smashing our bowlers all over the place. I was bowling little finger-cutters, trying everything. He got hold of me too, and eventually the coach called out, telling me to take myself off.
“I refused.
“I’m getting this guy out today,” I said.
“Even if it’s the last thing I do.
“We set a trap – pushed a fielder back on the boundary, knowing Boje would eventually mistime one. He was hitting them too cleanly to keep it up forever.
“And then it happened.
“He mistimed one just enough. The ball went up. The fielder ran back and took it over his head on the boundary.
“Out.
“Of all the wickets I ever took – especially of players who went on to make it – that one remains my favourite.”
Not the Straight Line
“Looking back, my journey through cricket never followed the expected path. I didn’t come through the standard trials. I wasn’t a regular provincial pick. I slipped in through an invitational side and stayed there long enough to prove I belonged.
“Rugby and cricket were always my first loves. Tennis, ironically the sport that kept me out of trials, was only my third favourite.
“But maybe that detour was the point.
“Sometimes the long way around puts you exactly where you’re meant to be.
Biggest Challenge in Life
Even for elite athletes, challenges off the court can be as significant as those on it. For John-Laffnie de Jager, the biggest daily challenge is his leg.
“I can’t feel my foot,” he admits.
“The older I get, the more I realise how serious a disability I have. But my dad always said, ‘We can get on with it.’ It was never treated as a big deal growing up. My friends didn’t even notice.”
Despite this, De Jager has turned his experience into a new venture: Beyond the Baseline, a mental conditioning and performance company.
“I love the mental side of sport,” he explains.
“We work with individual athletes, teams, and corporate clients. I’m not a sports psychologist, but I’ve spent years traveling, training, and learning about performance under pressure. That’s what we bring to our clients.”
Beyond the Baseline uses innovative techniques like laterality profiling, which helps clients understand their dominant hand, eye, foot, and ear – and how these preferences affect movement, perception, and decision-making.
“For example, a right-eye, right-foot dominant rugby player loves contact – they’ll naturally tackle and like contact. Left-foot, left-eye dominant players see gaps and plan differently. Even subtle things, like how someone reacts when you raise your voice, can make a difference in performance.”
De Jager works with schools, sports teams, and corporate groups, helping individuals optimise performance while embracing their unique strengths.
“I love working with people,” he says.
“It’s incredibly rewarding to help them realise their potential – on the field and beyond the baseline.”
Dave Marshall caught up with John-Laffnie de Jager at the 2026 Australian Open in Melbourne, exclusively for The South African.
