All-rounder and Maritzburg College product Ross Veenstra is returning to the Natal cricket fold.

Veenstra, a left-arm seamer and very useful lower-order batsman, was a key member of the Natal team that lifted the Castle Cup in 1994/95 and stayed in the province of his birth until 1996/97 when Johannesburg Technicon offered him a contract and he subsequently played for Gauteng.

Graham Ford, Natal's director of playing affairs, said Monday that Veenstra's return was very good news for the Dolphins.

``Ross is a good all-round cricketer. He's an under-rated batsman and a left-arm paceman who was really effective for us.''

Veenstra's return means the Natal attack is already looking a lot healthier for next season. If Shaun Pollock and Lance Klusener are on national duty, then the 26-year-old Veenstra will join Gary Gilder and Keith Storey as Natal's frontline pacemen, with West Indian Eldine Baptiste also quite possibly joining his former Eastern Province team-mate.

The 39-year-old Baptiste has reportedly been offered a short-term contract by Eastern Province, but Natal are willing to give the accurate seamer a two-year contract as they have coaching opportunities lined up for the veteran as well. KwaZulu-Natal Cricket Union chief executive Cassim Docrat said Monday that Baptiste's signing ``looks promising''.

Veenstra may not have set the world alight in Gauteng, but his cricket never lacked application. As a batsman, he is good enough to have scored two A Section centuries and he even tried his hand at opening when Gauteng were battling in that area.

A shoulder injury also hampered him and there is no doubt that his return to Natal, where he enjoyed an excellent relationship with Ford (who will be returning as A team coach next season) and the other players, should see him settle back into the form which saw him into the SA U24 team in his last year with Natal.

Docrat also confirmed Monday that Natal would have the services of another Gauteng cricketer, unorthodox left-arm spinner Goolam Bodi, but the rumours circulating up-country of Andrew Hall and Derek Crookes also coming to Durban seem to have their foundation in disgruntled players trying to get more out of the troubled Gauteng union.

Bodi's arrival will coincide with the loss of two home-grown spinners, both of them Pietermaritzburg-based. Left-armers Craig Tatton and Anthony Botha will be moving on as they seek more top-class action.

Ford said yesterday that he understood the Zingari pair's frustrations. ``It was difficult for them last season because they didn't get to play enough cricket. We've decided for next season that it doesn't make economic sense to contract three or four spinners and then only play one at a time. So if they can get senior contracts elsewhere then that's great for them and they should go.''

Tatton will be seen in the colours of Boland next season while Botha, who will also be playing overseas in winter, has still to settle on his new hosts.