Brandon Stone took advice from an unlikely source, and moved into a share of third on Friday with a second round of three-under-par 69 in the DP World Tour’s Betfred British Masters at The Belfry.

“The South African cricketing legends come and played here when they had that champions tournament, and I got a very thorough rundown of how the golf course plays and what my strategy should be from Chris Morris,” said Stone of a round that contained seven birdies and four bogeys.

He acknowledged that taking advice from a fast bowler and a hard-hitting lower-order batsman might have its downside, however. “It’s very aggressive,” he said. “So obviously there are a lot of birdies out there. So maybe if I can do my job a little bit better and keep the bogeys off the card, it might pay dividends on Sunday.”

He started his round on the 10th, and three birdies in the first six holes saw him off to a fast start. He dropped a shot on the 16th, and again on the 10th immediately after the turn. He followed that with a run of four consecutive birdies as he hit the front, but late bogeys on six and nine was him finish on seven-under through 36 holes.

“I holed some really nice putts,” he said. “That’s kind of been the facet that’s been lacking in the game over the last few months. So we did some hard work over the five-week break I took. Managed to roll it good, and keep on building on that momentum, whether the putt be for par or birdie.”

Stone was two shots off the lead, which was held by Germany’s Marcel Siem. The 45-year-old German also started his second round from the 10th tee and flew out of the blocks, holing a series of lengthy putts as he carded an eagle and three birdies in his first eight holes of the day. Bogeys followed on the 18th and second but he bounced back with a birdie at the fifth before dropping another shot on the sixth.