Centurion: Steve Elworthy was resigned to his fate of not being included in the South Africa side for the first test against Zimbabwe in Bloemfontein next weekend.

He knew that his first innings haul of seven wickets would not be enough for the selectors to leave out Allan Donald from the side, yet he carried on to take 10 wickets for the third time in his provincial career.

``There are so many players who are in good nick and pressing to places in the side and the competition is a healthy sign,'' he said.

As it now stands Northerns have a week's break between this game and their next Pool A assignment, against Griqualand West in Kimberley where they will no doubt hope to collect a better haul of bonus points to boost their pool position.

At present Northerns are second to Gauteng while Easterns and Eastern Province could be the two sides to drop out of the running for the Super Eight's which start in December.