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Is Steyn your June Plonker?

Cape Town - After much debate and head scratching, the Sport24 team have announced their Performers, Plonkers and Pictures of the month for June 2010.

Click HERE to cast your vote - and WIN!

Every month the Sport24 editorial team will announce nominations for a sportsperson or team (people who stole the limelight with a specific performance that month), a plonker (a team or person who has not covered themselves in glory) and a sports photo of the month (the one that makes you go "Ahhh"). You then get a chance to vote for the person, team and picture that best deserves the award...

So without further ado, then, the June nominations are...

PERFORMANCE:

Narrowing down the nominations for the June star of the month proved tricky with several candidates returning performances worthy of recognition.

Siphiwe Tshabalala
What a dreamy way to kick-start a World Cup: the dreadlocked midfielder’s awesome left-footed strike into the top corner of the onion bag in the opening match against Mexico (1-1) at packed Soccer City will be remembered long after the dust has settled on Bafana’s rather chequered tournament and the 2010 event as a whole.

Dale Steyn
You’ll see his name feature elsewhere (!) in this monthly Sport24 slot, but first let’s talk good stuff, shall we? The Proteas spearhead was not only eventually named player-of-the-series in the 2-0 Test beating of West Indies, but he became just the fourth-fastest bowler ever (39th Test) to reach 200 Test wickets in the first encounter at Port of Spain. Yup, even ahead of White Lightning …

Gio Aplon
The courageous wing/fullback may look as though he needs a bit more spinach, but in the fine 42-17 Springbok Test thumping of Six Nations champs France at Newlands, his two tries underlined why heart eclipses size in importance. First he bounced off an attempted big hit to wriggle his way over against the odds in the first half; then he mustered a crowd-pleasing, length-of-the-park effort in the second for good measure.

Jacques Kallis
In a Caribbean series marked by notable personal milestones for the likes of Steyn and Kallis’s mega-mate Mark Boucher, the seasoned all-rounder wasn’t going to miss out himself. Kallis reached 11 000 Test runs at St Kitts, the sixth batsman to do so and first South African. It goes without saying that he also kept on adding to his 250-plus tally of wickets.

Itumeleng Khune
Not everybody’s cup of tea as first-choice Bafana goalkeeper going into the 2010 World Cup, the 23-year-old Kaizer Chiefs man nevertheless routed his knockers by playing an instrumental role, via his series of reflex saves, in ensuring that his country got off to a satisfying start in the opening match by holding highly-rated Mexico to a draw at Soccer City.

PLONKERS:

And in the not so serious plonker category... Mirror, mirror on the wall, who's the biggest plonker of them all?

Rowen Fernandez
OK, his partner-in-crime Benni McCarthy was probably pretty sure already that he wasn’t going to make the Bafana World Cup cut … but that was no excuse for Fernandez, fully expected to be named among three squad ‘keepers, to wreck his “once in a lifetime” participation by being collared, alongside McCarthy, for having entertained women in the early hours of the morning in the Sandton team hotel.

AB de Villiers
OK, when you’ve got to go you’ve got to go! But the Proteas middle-order batsman certainly had one of the more high-profile “toilet breaks” when he was forced to leave the Test crease at St Kitts, shortly after hoisting a (presumably urgent) six to bring up his century. Nothing to do with that KFC diet, eh, AB? When he returned after a rather lengthy hiatus in play, a toilet roll inevitably was lobbed his way by mischievous team-mates on the balcony …

Dale Steyn
A rare double as the Phalaborwa Express finds himself in both categories of this feature! But he was forced to surrender his entire match fee for the final Test against West Indies in Bridgetown, after appearing to spit in the direction of opponent Sulieman Benn – not, it must be said, a shrinking violet in the series himself.

Andries Bekker
Being married and then being exposed for “playing away” by a popular magazine is a flaw in itself, of course, but when you are 2.08 metres tall and a Stormers and Springbok rugby player into the bargain, expecting NOT to be caught out by your sneaky little visits to a public park is … well, just a tad dof, don’t you reckon?

Steve Meyer
The Sharks flyhalf – and yes, there may still be those more inclined to say “who?” – earned a dubious distinction by coming out of “retirement” this month to become available to the franchise’s cause once again. Dubious only because, of course, he had weirdly quit rugby within a week of signing for them for the Super 14 this year. The rumour-mill, naturally, has been positively abuzz with speculation over the saga.

PHOTOS:

In a bid to deservedly salute the photographers doing the hard graft on the sidelines. Sport24 have put together a gallery of the "Best of the Best" pictures of the month of June. They're guaranteed to leave you speechless. Click HERE to view our selection of the: Best of the best pictures

Reader voting

Readers monthly votes will decide the 12 finalists in each category, and it is from those 12 finalists that Sport24 will decide their Star, Plonker and Picture of the Year in December.
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