"Having visited the Indian ODI practice at Stormont and secured the signing of a print of The Green, it was a natural follow up to contact the South Africans and hope that the 'double' could be achieved.
The South African Media Manager, Gordon Templeton was struggling with a bout of the 'flu, as were a number of his squad and he put me in touch with the team manager. The bad weather had taken its toll on the Indians as well and replacements had been flown in to Ulster to reinforce their team.
The Manager of the S Africans, Vince van der Bijl had been written to previously and so he knew about the print when he met me at Stormont last Thursday morning. There would be no problem with his squad signing the print so after another photographic session the players duly signed.
It was with great pleasure that AB de Villiers, who indicated his happy times at Carrickfergus, authenticated the signings and was photographed with the print.
In addition the shortage of batting tape in the South African camp was addressed by local sports shop Premier Sports and it is more than likely that a signed South African shirt is coming to Comber!"
