Vintcent van der Bijl. 1969–70 series In the first match in the Currie Cup in 1969–70 he carried his bat for 85 not out for Natal against Western Province. His batting form fell away somewhat in the next few matches but his bowling was as effective as ever, and he was selected for the first three Tests against Australia. He opened the batting with Barry Richards in the first four innings of the series, and although he made only 16, 17, 17 and 6, his opening partnerships with Richards were worth 21, 52, 88 and 56. He took 9 wickets at 22.55, conceding only 203 runs from 126.3 overs, and taking the final three wickets of the Third Test to ensure South Africa's victory in the series. Goddard had already said that it would be his last series. Immediately after the Third Test ended, while the players were celebrating in the dressing room, one of the selectors told Goddard he had been left out of the team for the final Test now that the series was won, so that the team should consist only of players who would be touring England later that year. The decision and its timing were widely unpopular. Peter Pollock said "it was no way to say thanks to a man who had been involved almost from the start in South Africa's rise to cricketing glory". Trevor Chesterfield described it as "cruel and unnecessary; an act which took some of the sparkle out of the 4–0 whitewash". The captain, Ali Bacher, said that despite the team's success, the day was "one of the saddest since I first played Test cricket for South Africa". Goddard himself simply said, "I wouldn't be human if I did not say I was disappointed. But that's life." He ended his first-class career a month later by leading Natal to victory against Rhodesia in Salisbury, and taking a hat-trick. After cricket In Caught in the Deep, Goddard's memoir of his life after cricket, he wrote: "As the clouds of controversy following my exclusion from the Springbok team began to lift, it gradually began to dawn on me that as far as reality and true fulfilment was concerned I had almost certainly been on the wrong track." "I had always tried to live by certain standards which I had presumed were acceptable to God," he wrote, but he now believed he had been