Another top 10 in 2022

 

I once heard former Springbok coach Nelie Smith say that when he was a Springbok selector, once they had chosen the Bok team, they would pick another team from the players left out that could quite possibly beat their selection – and then relook at their choices.

In that spirit, and because my recent blog listing 10 schools sport highlights that stood out for me in 2022 got quite a nice response, here are another 10 that could well be better than my originals.

In chronological order:

1 In March there was a function at Jeppe to mark the end of Mike Bechet’s reign as 1^st team cricket coach. He was in charge of 1033 1^st team games in all, at Jeppe and Maritzburg College. He was the epitome of an old-school teacher-coach: stern, uncompromising and altogether ethical. But ever-caring about the players in his charge.

2 In May the racing lanes at Roodeplaat Dam were completely cleared of Water Hyacinth. It took a massive effort by the rowing community, over many months to get there. There was talk at one stage that there will never be rowing there again, yet in November the Gauteng Champs were held there. Quite amazing!

3 I attended the Golden Lions Craven Week capping ceremony in June. The team captain, Xander Schoeman, and the Lions senior provincial captain, Reinhard Nothnagel made speeches. They are both Monument boys and it showed. Their talks were based on the solid values you need to succeed as a rugby player, and as a man. They say good people make good rugby players – these two will go a long way.

4 The Craven Week was on again and the “final” was as good as any I’ve seen. Western Province beat the Blue Bulls 29-21 in a great advert for the game. It was WP’s 6^th “title” in 11 years and their stars, for a change, came from Southern Cape Town, not from Paarl.

5 At that same Craven Week, King Edward’s Thabang Mphafi was selected for the SA Schools side. He was the captain of the KES 1^st team and the school’s deputy head boy. He was at the school on a TAG Foundation bursary and would probably not have reached those heights if he had stayed at school in Welkom, where he came from. I’m not a fan of recruitment of rugby players by schools, but some programmes are more than just about results. TAG is one of those.

6 In July I watched the Jeppe vs Parktown derby. It’s Parktown’s centenary in 2023 and their theme is that they are not done yet. Jeppe won the hockey and rugby games quite comfortably, but they lost the spirit-in-the-stands war, and I’d say the politeness and charm of the boys on the day contest ended even. From what I saw Parktown is certainly not done yet.

7 The St David’s Challenge Cup football tournament was back in August. Norkem Park were beaten 1-0 by Jeppe in the final, but they made lots of friends over the weekend. It’s a development success story, a school programme supported by the community that it’s in, attracting talent and providing top coaching. The boys sang and danced and added energy, and they just never went away, in any of their games.

8 The very next weekend, St David’s hosted its Time Cricket festival and, this year, the teams played two two-day games each. St David’s director of cricket, Dave Nosworthy, is adamant that cricket skills and tactics are best taught in longer forms of the game and that the obsession with limited overs cricket is detrimental to the development of good players. You can’t argue with that.

9 In September there were three St Stithians old boys – Kagiso Rabada, Wiaan Mulder and Ryan Rickelton – in the South African cricket side that played England. Saints continues to breed international players – there is one in the current Ireland team and there was another in the Holland team that dumped us out of the T20 World Cup. Only one of the three is in Australia at the moment. Perhaps the other two should have been too.

10 Vlado Trninic coached the Gauteng U19 boys team to victory at the SA Schools tournament in December. It was his last provincial assignment. A few weeks before, at the province’s capping ceremony, a procession of the players he has coached at Easterns, St John’s College, OJ Eagles and Gauteng paid tribute to him. They included many internationals. The remarkable thing was that, almost to a man, they spoke of the impression he had made on them outside of the pool more than about what he taught them in it. That’s the mark of a good coach. He’ll be missed.

Ten of my school sports highlights of 2022

1 Let’s get the hardy perennials out of the way up front: St Benedict’s won the boys competition at the SA Schools rowing championships at Germiston Lake (Roodeplaat was hyacinth-choked) for the 28^th consecutive year in March, and ….

2 Northcliff High school won the Joburg co-ed schools A league athletics interhigh for the 24^th time in a row. There are still no contenders in sight for either of them.

3 The Easter Rugby festivals were on again, which was in itself a highlight. I was at KES, and what stood out for me was the Queens College old boys standing in a torrential downpour, singing their songs from the 1^st whistle to the last.

4 The Jeppe vs KES rugby double header derby clash is always special, but the 1^st meeting this year really stands out. It was thriller, won 27-26 in the last minute by KES. There were 22 black players across the two teams and the standard of rugby was fantastic, a triumph for successful transformation.

5 The Aitken Trophy final this year ended four hours after it began, due to lightning 1^st, then loadshedding. Jeppe scored in the final second to beat St Stithians 2-1, their 6^th consecutive title. What I’ll remember, though, was the sight of the Saints players going across to applaud the Jeppe supporters after the game ended.

6 The U13 Craven Week was at Monument in Krugersdorp and it was great to attend it again. The Golden Lions beat Boland in the “main game” after defeating Western Province on the second last day – the 1^st time WP had lost a game at the week in 10 years.

7 I was at a special event at KES in October. It was a farewell evening for Tutty Faber who has hung up his whistle after coaching at the school for 40 years. He has been an incredible servant to King Edward in number of different roles. It will be hard to imagine the place without him.

8 St Dominic’s School of Boksburg lost 10-8 to St Stithians in the final of the Saints stayers tournament in November, after beating Roedean 4-3 in the semifinals. It’s been remarkable story of improvement. I remember not too many years ago when they were cannon fodder at the Roedean tournament, just making up the numbers, really.

9 Central Gauteng won the boys and girls U19 titles at the SA Schools water polo tournament in Durban in December, and took the overall title, ahead of Western Province who have dominated this event for the last 10 years.

10 The year ended for me with a week in Stellenbosch at the Khaya Majola cricket week. There was no week in 2020 and I missed 2021 because of Covid. It was great to be back at the world’s greatest school cricket festival – it keeps that title, only just, despite some serious cutbacks in the production due to CSA’s financial woes. And there can be no better setting it for than between the Eerste River and the Hottentots-Holland mountains at the Maties’ Coetzenberg complex.

KES moves into 2nd spot on SA Schools cricket caps list

 

The South African Schools and Colts teams were announced at the end of the Khaya Majola Week in Stellenbosch on Sunday. In previous years, they would have played each other on the day after the festival ended, but that practice was dropped last year because of the Covid regulations in place and it was continued this year, along with the reduction to four days of play, to cut costs.

 Times are tough, clearly, but the changes have undeniably devalued the week and they threaten its status as arguable the best school-level interprovincial tournament in the world and South Africa’s strategic edge in youth development.

 That said, there are some very talented players in the ranks of the two teams named.

 Over the years, the majority of South African Schools players have come from a relatively small number of schools and the selection of Liam Alder of King Edward VII School takes the Johannesburg School into second sport on the list with 17 caps, ahead of St St Stithians and Grey College, who have both produced 16 SA Schools players since unification in 1994.

 Grey High School still tops the list on 24. They had no SA Schools selections this year.

 The top 10 schools are: Grey High School – 24, 2 King Edward 17, Grey College – 16, St Stithians – 16, Rondebosch – 13, Affies – 11, Wynberg – 12, St Andrew’s College – 11, DHS – 9, Hudson Park – 9, Maritzburg College, St John’s and Glenwood – 8.

 South African Schools

Juan James (Wynberg Boys’ High, Western Province, captain), Liam Alder (King Edward VII, Central Gauteng Lions), Jake Carstens (Hilton College, KwaZulu-Natal Inland), Nathan Jacobs (New Orleans Secondary, Boland), Tristan Luus (Hoërskool Waterkloof, Titans), Kwena Maphaka (St Stithians College, Central Gauteng Lions), Bongile Mfunelwa (Rondebosch Boys’ High, Western Province), Jason Muirhead (St Charles’ College, KwaZulu-Natal Inland), Romashan Pillay (Westville Boys’ High, KwaZulu-Natal Coastal), Ludwich Schuld (Hoër Volkskool Potchefstroom, North West), Richard Seletswane (St Stithians College, Central Gauteng Lions), Liyema Waqu (SACS, Western Province).

 South African Schools Colts

Thebe Gazide (St Stithians College, Central Gauteng Lions, captain), Christiaan du Toit (Hoërskool Waterkloof, Titans), Maahir Joseph (Rondebosch Boys’ High, Western Province), Ontlametse Kesiamang (Northern Cape High, Northern Cape), Christopher King (St John’s College, Central Gauteng Lions), Gerhardus Maree (Grey College, Free State), Leketa Dakalo (St Andrew’s School, Free State), Johnathan Muller (Grey College, Free State), Riley Norton (Paul Roos Gimnasium, Boland), Bonga Shezi (Durban High School, KwaZulu-Natal Coastal), Khayelihle Sithole (St Benedicts College, Easterns),      Bhamji Suleman (Laudium Hub, Titans)

 Western Province won the “main game” of the week on Sunday, beating KwaZulu-Natal Inland by 146 runs. This was WP’s 1^st victory in the week’s unofficial final since 2019. They have played in it seven times since 2012.

Summarised Scores- Day 4 

Western Province 218 (Bongile Mfunelwa 66, Juan James 38, Maahir Joseph 30; Jake Carstens 3/38, Matthew Urquhart 2/13, Ross Boast 2/36); KwaZulu-Natal Inland 72 (Jake Carstens 15; Asakhe Tsaka 4/19, Liyema Waqu 2/14). Western Province won by 146 runs.

 Titans 141 (Tristan Luus 39, Leo Sadler 34; Christopher King 4/25, Liam Alder 2/22, Kyle Glennostor 2/26); Central Gauteng Lions 144/3 (Thebe Gazide 40, David Teeger 39, Richard Seletswane 24, Reuben du Toit 24*; Tristan Luus 2/18). Central Gauteng Lions won by seven wickets.

 KwaZulu-Natal 205/9 (Mohamed Taqvi 48, Sagel Rajakumar 47*, Ross Montgomery 43; Nathan Jacobs 3/40, Riley Norton 2/31); Boland 209/8 (William September 55, Werner Brand 43*, Josh Jordaan 26, Gysbert Wege 23; Mohamed Taqvi 2/19, Ryan Jairaj 2/31). Boland won by two wickets.

 Free State 252 (Gerhard Maree 87, Samokelo Lepheto 66, Joe Meyer 45; Rico Fryer 3/43, Martin Bullock 3/53); North West 174 (Bathabile Masigo 32, Rico Fryer 28, Ludwich Schuld 21, Martin Bullock 21, Dewald du Plessis 20; Dakalo Leketa 5/33, Khanyisile Nondwangu 2/55). Free State won by 78 runs.

 Easterns 267 (Khayelihle Sithole 97, Kyle Enoch 27, Dewan Marais 26, Tian du Toit 26, Extras 22; Marno Coetzee 3/22, Gopolang Makitise 3/75, Naziel Adams 2/18); Northern Cape 238 (Naziel Adams 55, Jody Barends 53, Ontlametse Kesiamang 45, Extras 31, Deshwin Swartz 30; Tian du Toit 3/33, Luphumlo Mhlongo 2/38, Jeandré Byleveld 2/47). Easterns won by 29 runs.

 Eastern Province 208 (Casey Keevy 51, Corby van Heerden 41, Simnikile Soyaya 31, Matthew Beamish 31; Zandré Conradie 4/39, Ziano Lewis 2/40); Garden Route Badgers 188/7 (Zander Nel 61*, Thurstin Murphy 38*, Keenan Arries 29, Elro Spies 20; Lisa Numba 3/32, Aphiwe Mnyanda 2/31). Eastern Province won by 20 runs.

 Limpopo 96 (Nlovo Sithole 33; Awangile Twani 5/14, Lesego Botha 2/15); Border 97/8 (Tre Gilbert 23*, Extras 22, Uzubenathi Kene 20; Ntemi Madimola 4/18). Border won by two wickets.

 Namibia Cheetahs 132 (Jack Parker 45, Zacheo van Vuuren 21; Curtleigh Koetzee 4/28, Rickus Kramm 2/22, Quinlan Visagie 2/38); Mpumalanga 101 (Jayden Schultz 26, Hannes Feuth 25; Gerhard Janse van Rensburg 5/29). Namibia Cheetahs won by 31 runs.

 Border Kei 45 (Extras 13; Junior Kariata 3/5, Francois du Plessis 3/6, Nico Pieters 2/9, Addo Iita 2/25); Namibia Welwitchias 46/1 (SW Kuhn 28*; Myekwa Sibonisiwe 1/16). Namibia Welwitchias won by nine wickets.

 

 

 

Its a WP vs KZN Inland Khaya Majola "main" game

 

The Khaya Majola Week ends in Stellenbosch today with Western Province meeting Kwa-Zulu Natal Inland on the main field – the Coetzenberg Oval at Maties – in the “main game” of the week.

 It will be the week’s unofficial final, although it’s a festival, and there isn’t supposed to be an overall winner. Although there was a period, from 1996 to about 2001, when the, then, Coke Week was a limited-overs knockout tournament, played in two sections with cross-pool playoffs, semi-finals and a final, a winner’s trophy, and classification games all the way down to last position. That later changed and the week reverted to the festival format, with the only prize (apart for SA Schools and Colts selection) being a spot in that final game.

 It was also decided to introduce other formats – time cricket and T20 – so a knockout tournament wasn’t possible.

 This year, it has been a four day festival of 50-over games only, so it could have been a tournament. It sort of panned out that way. The second day was washed out, so those results were disregarded and on the basis of the 1^st day results, WP met Northwest and KZN Inland played the Central Gauteng Lions, with the winners going though to the showpiece fixture.

 The Lions were the defending champions, having beaten the Titans in Potch last year, and they have been in more “finals” than anyone else, including eight times in the last 11 years. They aren’t there this year, though, and few can argue that WP and Inland don’t deserve to be the finalists.

 The fixtures for the final day are:

Western Province vs KwaZulu-Natal Inland (Maties A, Coetzenberg Oval); Central Gauteng Lions vs Titans (Maties B, Tassies Oval); Boland vs KwaZulu-Natal Coastal (Paul Roos Gim); North West vs Free State (Maties C); Northern Cape vs Easterns (Maties D); Garden Route Badgers vs Eastern Province (Van der Stel); Border vs Limpopo (Distell); Namibia Cheetahs vs Mpumalanga (Bridgehouse); Namibia Welwitschias vs Border Kei (Spes Bona).

It's been an unusual week as far as individual performances go. It certainly hasn’t been the runfest we have been accustomed to. There was one hundred made on Saturday – exactly 100 by Romashan Pillay of KZN Coastal against Easterns – and a further four half centuries, making it just three centuries going into the final day, although half a day was lost to the rain. The wickets were always going to be low and slow, and the howling wind on day one didn’t help. Then the rain on Friday slowed the outfields down on Saturday making run-scoring even more difficult.

 There will, we hope, be some sparkling performances on the final day.  

Summarised Scores – Day 3

Northwest 85 (Dewald du Plessis 37; Liyema Waqu 4/38, Abdullah Bayoumy 2/9, Cameron Fraser 2/24); Western Province 87/5 (Maahir Joseph 31, Juan James 27; Samuel Bobraine 2/19, Paballo Madisa 2/42). Western Province won by five wickets. 

Boland 173/9 (William September 41, Nathan Jacobs 38*, Riley Norton 28; Leo Sadler 3/22, Tristan Luus 2/56); Titans 174/3 (Christiaan du Toit 77, Bhamji Suleman 72*; Riley Norton 3/37). Titans won by seven wickets.

Central Gauteng Lions 157 (Thebe Gazide 34, Neil Timmers 28, Richard Seletswane 20; Nathan Beaumont 3/20, Matipa Denenga 2/18); KwaZulu-Natal Inland 161/5 (Jason Muirhead 76, Jake Carstens 44*; Kwena Maphaka 3/39). KwaZulu-Natal Inland won by five wickets.

KwaZulu-Natal Coastal 220/5 (Romashan Pillay 100, Aryan Gopalan 42, Evan Fouché 31; Martin Khumalo 3/42); Easterns 148 (Simele Maye 44, Jeandré Byleveld 35; Sagel Rajakumar 2/10, Ryan Jairaj 2/11, Aryan Gopalan 2/23). KwaZulu-Natal Coastal won by 72 runs.

Free State 205/9 (Foster Lubbe 68, Khanyisile Nondwangu 31, Thabiso Nkoe 27*, Samokelo Lepheto 27; Simnikile Soyaya 3/39, Aphiwe Mnyanda 2/43); Eastern Province 103 (Casey Keevy 38, Ashley Ostling 22; Johnathan Muller 4/13, Foster Lubbe 2/13, Dakalo Leketa 2/17). Free State won by 102 runs.

Border 135 (Tre Gilbert 62, Ryan Denston 23; Kamvalihle Qusheka 2/5, Liyabonga Malefi 2/6, Charl-Francois Marais 2/13, Ewald de Jager 2/21, Thurstin Murphy 2/24); Garden Route Badgers 111 (Thurstin Murphy 32, Extras 27, Liyabonga Malefi 26; Tyler Stagg 3/25, Ryan Denston 2/23). Border won by 24 runs.

Mpumalanga 102 (Sphumelelo Madonsela 21, Hannes Feuth 21, Extras 20; Tumiso Seetelo 4/23, Monnapule Jansen 2/13, Paseka Jonker 2/24); Northern Cape 105/3 (Igsaan Alexander 43, Kgotso Motlwai 37). Northern Cape won by seven wickets.

Namibia Welwitchias 104 (Jandré Botha 25; Khaif Patel 2/4, Ntemi Madimola 2/16, Masilo Moremi 2/18, Gideon Goosen 2/43); Limpopo 105/5 (Shelton Ngobeni 45; Nico Pieters 2/21, Ben Burger 2/22). Limpopo won by five wickets.

Namibia Cheetahs 254 (JC Balt 70, Gerhard Janse van Rensburg 54, Extras 34, Hansie de Villiers 24; Esam Mpafa 5/60, Faiz Shaik 2/39); Kei 114 (Ntsika Ngqukumba 26, Extras 29, Thabiso Rebert 20*; PD Blignaut 3/11, JC Balt 3/22, Dirkie Theunissen 2/8). Namibia Cheetahs won by 140 runs. 

 

 

The rain came down at the Khaya Majola Week, and the makers of plans got going

 

The 2^nd day’s play at the Khaya Majola Week in Stellenbosch was called off at about 12 noon on Friday when the heavens opened up. It’s not supposed to rain in the Western Cape at this time of the year, I’m told, but it certainly did, and it was a downpour to rival those we’ve had on the Highveld in the last week or two.

The organisers eventually sent the boys back to the hotel at lunchtime , with instructions to be ready to return within 30 minutes ,should it clear up. They want the boys to play, at any cost, at these weeks, which is part of what makes them special.

The disruption brought challenges. The abandoned games couldn’t be used in the calculations when deciding who plays who – strength on strength – on the last two days, and the limited time out on the field has aggravated the headaches the selectors were facing anyway, having to pick SA Schools teams at a four day tournament.

In the background, plans were being made – the ground staff will be on post at 5am on Saturday to make sure the fields are playable come starting time, and the organisers are already contemplating shorter games than the scheduled 50-overs format, should the starts be delayed. And they were trying set up the best possible contests for day 3, even though no-one has played a lot of cricket yet.

Over the years, I’ve often likened the Khaya Majola Week to a military operation. Today I saw how it’s conducted. CSA’s manager of youth cricket, Niels Momberg, is the CO, stern and perfectionistic; the indefatigable Morgan Pillay, the week's permanent secretary, is his executive officer, making things happen, and the brilliant Hannes Nienaber - co-opted cricket fundi - is the head of intelligence – an endless source of statistics and historical context for them to base their decisions on.

It's the beating heart of the world greatest school cricket tournament, and it was something to behold.

Summarised scores Day 2 – All the games abandoned because of rain.

Eastern Province 126/0 (Zac Micklewright 65 not out, Ashley Ostling 54 not out), vs Boland.

Central Gauteng Lions 76/4 (Richard Seletswane 37 not out), vs Titans.

Garden Route Badgers 100/4 (Elro Spies 42), vs Namibia Welwitchias.

Limpopo 166/10 (Zack Duvenhage 61; Paseka Jonker 3/17), vs Northern Cape.

Free State 109/5 (Liam Dohery 24, Khanyisile Nondwanga 24), vs Kwa-Zulu-Natal Coastal.

Border 95/3 (Chloe Van Schoor 25), vs Namibia Cheetahs.

Western Province 145/2 (Maahir Joseph 69 not out, Meeka-eel Prince 38), vs KwaZulu-Natal Inland Inland

Mpumalanga 124/5 (Yalin Koul 42, Hannes Feuth 36 not out), vs  Border Kei

Northwest 188/3 (Dewald du Plessis 51 not out, Bathabile Masiga 54, Rico Fryer 42). vs Easterns

Saturday morning dawned clear and sunny in Stellenbosch. Praise be.

Today’s Fixtures

Titans vs Boland, Western Province vs North West, Central Gauteng Lions vs KwaZulu-Natal Inland, Free State vs Eastern Province, Easterns vs KwaZulu-Natal, Garden Route Badgers vs Border, Mpumalanga vs Northern Cape, Namibia Welwitschias vs Limpopo, Namibia Cheetahs vs Border Kei.

The Khaya Majola Week's in Stellenbosch and, aside from the weather, it's as good as it gets

 

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You’ve got to find something to complain about if you are from Joburg and you are watching cricket in what has to be the most spectacular setting for a cluster of fields anywhere in the world, even if it’s just the weather.

 I’m at the U19 Khaya Majola cricket week, which is being played mainly at the University of Stellenbosch, but also at other grounds in and around the historic town, including Bridge House in Franschoek – on my list of the most beautiful school sportsgrounds in the country.

 I spent the 1^st day at Maties on Thursday, and it was magnificent. You know that chequered pattern they achieve by criss-crossing the direction of mowing the grass? Apply that to the biggest lawn you have ever seen in your life. Then in the centre of each there’s a pristine square with those three sticks at each end that tell you this is the site of the special game (just like the circle in the middle of a field tells you it’s for the beautiful game), and you have an idea of what it looks like at ground level.

 But it’s up above that makes this place really special. The ground lies between the Eersterivier and the foothills of the Hottentots-Holland mountains and the Jonkershoek nature reserve and they are so close you can almost touch them. When compiling a list of the most beautiful places to watch sport, as I’ve done – see here -  the Western Cape has the unfair advantage of those mountain backgrounds, but at the Maties Coetzeberg complex they aren’t in the background, they’re right there!

 I took a walk around the edge of that vast lawn on Thursday and the ground starts rising just metres beyond the Southern boundaries of the of the main oval and the D fields, and the kloof vegetation starts there too. There were spectators on camping chairs in the shade of the trees there, between the pristine lawns and the craggy cliffs behind them.

 Which brings me to the weather. The worst conditions to be out and about in, when it’s not cold and raining, is when it’s stiflingly hot, or when the wind is blowing you off your feet. Guess what? We had both in Stellenbosch on Thursday. All day long.

 I’m carping, of course, it was great to be watching cricket at this level again, after one year off and one with no spectators due to Covid, Stellenbosch is as good a place as it gets for that.

 And there were players on day 1 who caught the eye. Potch Volkskool and Northwest batsman, Ludwich Schuld, was the standout. He made 119 not out, against a vaunted Easter Province attack, off just 95 balls, including 10 sixes and four 4s. He is certainly one to watch.

 There was one other hundred on the opening day – Ontlametse Kesiamang got 102 for Northern Cape against Border Kei. There were another six half centuries made on a day that generally belonged to the batsmen.

 There were two five wicket hauls – the Lions’.Kwena Maphaka took 5/36 in their win over KZN Inland, and Nsaka Mattye took 5/19 for Limpopo against the Garden Route Badgers (formerly SWD).

 The win for the Central Gauteng Lions over KZN Coastal, and Western Province’s 186-run victory over Free State meant that they are early front runners for spots in the unofficial final come Sunday.

 Summarised 1^st day scores

 Western Province 248 (Bongile Mfunelwa 91, Juan James 40, Fayaad Daniels 23, Extras 23, Jordan Neill 21; Jonathan Muller 3/39, Khanyisile Nondwangu 2/22, Sicelo Matayi 2/32); Free State 66 (Foster Lubbe 18; Asakhe Tsaka 2/13, Cameron Fraser 2/15, Fayaad Daniels 2/24). Western Province won by 182 runs.

 Central Gauteng Lions 181 (Richard Seletswane 49, Siya Radebe 38; Aryan Gopalan 2/8, Romashan Pillay 2/27, Bonga Shezi 2/40); KwaZulu-Natal 121 (Evan Fouché 35, Ryan Jairaj 28, Extras 28; Kwena Maphaka 5/36, Christopher King 3/17, Liam Alder 2/19). Central Gauteng Lions won by 60 runs.

 Eastern Province 187 (Russell Petersen 49, Olwakhe Goqorza 41, Ashley Ostling 25; Tumelo Makume 3/29, Corné Prinsloo 2/32, Martin Bullock 2/32); North West 190/3 (Ludwich Schuld 119*, Dewald du Plessis 43). North West won by seven wickets.

 Boland 225 (Cormey van der Watt 66, Nathan Jacobs 53, Thando Prusent 25; Extras 23; Dirkie Theunissen 2/25, Salamon Nuuyoma 2/37, Alex Volschenk 2/37); Namibia Cheetahs 94 (JC Balt 26; Thato Msizi 3/22, Cormey van der Watt 2/4, Riley Norton 2/8). Boland won by 131 runs.

 Titans 224/9 (Divan Engelbrecht 39, Steve Stolk 35, Tristan Luus 32*, Mohammed Aslam 28, Morati Lefhiedi 20; Matthew Urquhart 4/39, Ross Boast 2/59); KwaZulu-Natal Inland 225/8 (Jason Muirhead 62, Jonathan van Zyl 43, Matthew Urquhart 35*, Jake Carstens 25; Safwaan Sujee 2/32, Divan Engelbrecht 2/52). KZN Inland won by two wickets.

 Northern Cape 247/7 (Ontlametse Kesiamang 102, Extras 41, Marno Coetzee 27, Kgotso Motlwai 26; Harry Makuleni 2/43); Kei 59 (Extras 18; Jody Barends 4/10, Tumiso Seetelo 2/4). Northern Cape won by 188 runs.

 Garden Route Badgers 128 (Zander Nel 41, Extras 34; Nsuku Mattye 5/19); Limpopo 84 (Ruben Vosloo 27; Ewald de Jager 4/12, Charl-Francois Marais 2/14). Garden Route Badgers won by 44 runs.

 Namibia Welwitschia 146 (Simon Sikongo 31; Suhail Patel 4/44, Curtleigh Koetzee 3/11); Mpumalanga 147/3 (Jayden Scholtz 55*, Hannes Feuth 52*; Addo Iita 2/11). Mpumalanga won by seven wickets.

 Border 172 (Bradley de Kock 40, Tre Gilbert 33, Extras 33; Adam Kruger 2/8, Liphumlo Mhlongo 2/32, Tristan van Schalkwyk 2/47); Easterns 174/6 (Kyle Enoch 43, Khayelihle Sithole 42*, Extras 25, Dewan Marais 22). Easterns won by four wickets.

 Friday’s fixtures:

Western Province vs KwaZulu-Natal Inland, Central Gauteng Lions vs Titans, Boland vs Eastern Province, Namibia Cheetahs vs Border, Free State vs KwaZulu-Natal Coastal, Mpumalanga vs Border Kei, Northwest vs Easterns, Garden Route Badgers vs Namibia, Welwitchias, Northern Cape vs Limpopo,

Red cards aren't stopping the head to head contact

 

The 1^st round of matches in the Heineken Cup have led on from the Autumn Internationals, and URC before that, when it comes to red cards issued in head-to-head contact situations.

The decisions have been pretty consistent and the referees have learnt to use vocabulary and sentence structure that justifies their actions and conforms to the mandate put in place by World Rugby who insist on harsh sanctions and that the decisions are judged in isolation – context counts for nothing. The intentions of the offending player, the dynamics of the game situation and sheer bad luck, count for nothing. Bang a head and you’re gone!

Everyone seems to have come to terms with it. You are hearing the commentators and pundits say things like “the way the games being refereed – that’s a definite red.” And seeing that it’s being consistently applied, no team should be worse affected by the way it’s being blown than any other.

And it’s in the interests of player safety, we all know. The problem, of course is that the results of matches are being affected. The top coaches and teams are clearly adapting and working out 14-man game plans and we are seeing teams win despite receiving a red card. But in most cases, red-carding a player is effectively awarding the result to the other team.

The question is why is it still happening so often, given that the players know they aren’t going to get away with it, and that it’s probably going to cost their team the game? If World Rugby’s intention is to change player behaviour, they aren’t succeeding.

The answer has to be that it’s just about impossible, the way the game is being played now, to avoid these incidents. The players aren’t changing their behaviours because they can’t.

Take two other foul play situations which have become automatic red-card offences – the spear tackle and the taking out of a jumping player in the air. At some stage it was decided, in the interests of safety, to use red cards to remove them from the game. And it worked. You do still see them from time to time, but not nearly as frequently as you used to. The players have changed their behaviour - because they can. Kick-chasers are waiting for the catcher to touch the ground before tackling him; and tacklers are backing off when they meet no resistance and the opponent is about to be lifted and dumped.

So, why hasn’t it had the same effect in head-to-head contact? It’s because in the other situations some deliberate action was required commit the foul (almost always) and the player can deliberately not take that action. Not so with head contact. In almost every case the contact was unintentional. Sure, the tackler could have gone lower, but then he would be giving the ball carrier an invitation to offload. He’s doing his job, which in the modern game is to stop the momentum of the opponents and try to set up a turnover. He's certainly not going out to head butt anyone. Sometimes, in the process (and it happens in the wink of an eye), factors combine to create contact to the head. It’s then reviewed in slow motion, and it looks pretty bad on occasion.

That’s happening, and the red cards aren’t stopping it. We can keep on with the protocol, hoping that eventually it will work, but that’s a little bit insane (by Einstein’s definition). Games are being lost because of cards, the poor referees and TMOs are being made to look stupid, and the crowds are staying away from games in their thousands.

We can’t have players trying to decapitate each other, obviously. Now’s the time to for someone clever to come up with a solution that eliminates it without ruining the game. This one’s not working.

Enough with the ref-bashing now

The sentiment towards Rassie Erasmus and his criticisms of referees seems to be turning. Following the conscious decision this Saturday, it seems, by Supersport to stop the matchday pundits from discussing the ref, and the the Final Whistle guys' approach of rather concentrating on what the team did and didn't do, there has been a lot of "it's enough now" on social media today.

To be honest, I've done my share of whining - and let's face it, there have been decisions made that have cost the Springboks - but my eyes were opened when I had a chat with Gaby Pappas a couple of weeks ago. I've know Gaby for 25 years now. He runs the training of the referees in the Lions union and is a selfless servant of the game.

He is a worried man, he told me. They don't have enough refs in the province (neither do the other unions, he says). Qualified, experienced men are giving up because they've had enough of the abuse they are getting at clubs and schools, from officials, coaches, spectators, parents, players and even schoolboys.

And they cannot recruit enough newcomers to take their place. It's getting so bad that they are going to have to tell clubs and schools, sorry, we don't have a referee for you on Saturday.

What will happen then? When players at club and school level are turned away because the number of teams must be reduced because there's no-one to ref their games, the game is dying.

And it's not the performance of the international referees that is killing it.

When the director of rugby sends out the message that the referees are rubbish, and quite possibly cheating us, then it becomes OK for everyone else to believe that too, and take it out on the men who voluntarily turn up to handle the games at the vital lower levels.

That's why it's enough now.

The Saints water polo festival is fantastic, let's hope promotion-relegation doesn't spoil that

 

I spent Sunday at the St Stithians Water Polo Invitational Water Tournament, which is called the Saints Stayers tournament these days, because it doesn’t involve the departing matrics at the various schools and provides a first outing for the teams that are staying behind after they leave.

It’s proved to be a popular concept, having grown from a two-day affair involving mainly the local schools in the beginning, to one involving all the top teams in the country with, I was told, a sizable waiting list of schools clamouring to get in.

There is another national tournament on at the same time – the Inspire Cup – which is played at different venues for the boys and girls teams because there isn’t another school in Joburg that can accommodate 40 teams like Saints with its three pools can do.

The upshot was that for the weekend, the independent schools’ half-term break which makes it a good time of the year, Joburg is very much the epicentre of schools water polo in the country. Much as the city is the heart of schools rugby over Easter – and St Stithians was the instigator of that too.

I spoke to Bruno Fernandes who was the organiser of the event for the 15^th year in a row on Sunday. This was the 35^th national tournament he has run. He’s a bean-counter by profession and that precise thinking translates into an intricate programme design that goes beyond the usual ‘round-robin with cross pool playoffs’ formats and actually gives the 3^rd placed finishers another chance to get into the top eight playoff section. He has refined it over the years and it’s a work of art to see.

On a long weekend like the one just past, despite the rain and lightning interruption, it all finished on time and the girls and boys all played seven full, four-chukka matches at the end of it. That’s not something you get at any of the other big tournaments.

When I was told on Sunday that, from next year, there will be a promotion-relegation system in place, with the two boys and two girls team finishing last at the Saints tournament dropping down to the Inspire Cup and the top two teams from there coming up, my first reaction was disapproval.

I’ve always believed that making winning the main aim does not belong in school sport. I’m concerned that the dynamics will change for the teams striving for promotion, and for those fighting relegation. I agree that these concepts are part of life and children shouldn’t be shielded from them, but my experience is that when wining becomes the all-important thing all manner of evils follow.

School sport isn’t about winning and losing, so the strength of a team shouldn’t be relevant when it comes to invitations to tournaments. Our school sport has always been organised on traditional lines, and long-term traditional relationships shouldn’t be ditched because a team is going through a lean patch.

On the other hand, I agree that lopsided scorelines don’t do anyone any good and it is true that the players at schools that haven’t been included at tournaments like the Saints Stayers, historically, and who have worked hard to reach a level which deserves recognition at a prestige event like this, also have a case.

I guess it’s going to depend on how promotion-relegation is managed. There have been some pretty ugly incidents in other codes and competitions where it exists.

I hope it works out. Everything else about the tournament is fantastic, it shouldn’t be spoiled by upping the stakes and making winning too important.

The time cricket festival is done, but the lessons will live on

 

The St David’s Fasken Time Cricket Festival ended on Sunday and it was a run fest.

There were no fewer that 18 centuries scored in the four days, over 50 half centuries, and literally thousands of runs in total.

The conditions played a big part in that. The wickets were flat and lifeless, having seen no natural moisture since April, the outfields were dry and threadbare. So, the bowlers got no help, and any shot beating the infield went to the boundary.

The two-day “time” format must, however, get credit too. There’s so much limited overs cricket played these days that it would have been a welcome change for the quality batsmen to get themselves in and select their strokes without the pressure of having to get on with it.

The idea of giving schoolboys the opportunity to play longer format cricket comes from Dave Nosworthy, director of cricket at St David’s, and he is unwavering in his belief that real cricket lessons are learnt far more effectively in longer games.

I think there was enough evidence on show over the weekend to show that is true. Sure, the second round of games all ended in draws, which could be seen as a reflection on the captaincy. At lunch on the final day all the games were poised for sporting declarations and exciting run chases. And there were one or two teams that were prepared to take a risk, but in the end, I guess, four days of toiling under an unseasonably hot Joburg sun, in their 1^st games of the season, took its toll and no-one had the energy left to produce fireworks at the end of it.

But, as I heard said from many quarters over the four days, the event was about learning more than results and there were lessons learnt in that final session too. I came across an example of that while snapping away at one of the games. I got into a conversation with two parents who told me that when the team were complaining about the size of the target set for them and the number of overs they were given, the coach told them that it was of their own doing. If they wanted to make a game of it, he said, they should have bowled the opponents out earlier, and not dropped so many catches.

That’s a lesson you don’t learn in T20 cricket – and the schools their sons are at are the national champions in that format of cricket.

The wizened cricket professional, or the teacher equivalent of him, plays a vital role in ensuring that those lessons are learned. There were a number of those sorts of men at St David’s over the weekend. Men who have been around for years and who probably taught the bright-eyed youngsters who are coaching the teams now how to play. I saw, for example Mike Bechet at the Jeppe games, Adi Norris was there with St John’s, Jeff Levin at St David’s, Wim Jansen at St Stithians and the Noordheuwel pair, Werner Jacobs and Morne Heunis. And Nos, of course, was talking to all the players and all the coaches, all the time.

Cricket is the greatest educational game and it’s having those sorts of educators around that makes it so.

 

Appreciating your opponents is part of the great game

 

Someone told me that as we get older, the time we have spent watching cricket is subtracted from our age. He’d read it somewhere, he said. You can imagine one of the great philosopher reporters of the game, Neville Cardus or John Arlott, perhaps, or even our own Charles Fortune, saying that.

I’ve tried, but I can’t find the reference. I think it could be true though, and I was reminded of  it when I spotted Harry Shapiro at the side of the field at the St David’s Fasken Time Cricket Festival on Friday. He’s 82 now, he told me, and still coaching and running clinics for coaches. I remember doing the Cricket SA level 1 coaching qualification in my first year of teaching some time during the last century and the bit about teaching spin bowling was handled by Harry.

It was good to see him. When I asked him how he’s doing, his response was to criticise the field placings in the game he was watching, “that’s a T20 field, not a two-day one,” he said. That’s the response you’d expect from someone who has spent a lifetime in and around the game.

Few games have more customs, quirks and traditions than cricket has. A unique one is to show appreciation for what your opponents do. Applauding milestones reached is an example, as is a batsman acknowledging when he has been beaten by a really good ball, and fielders going across to congratulate a batsman when he leaves the field after a good knock.

You see less of that on TV now in these times of cricket on steroids, but there was enough of it on show over the first two days of this festival to show that it’s still being taught at the sorts of schools that are playing here.

And to reinforce that lesson, the organisers have introduced a great custom. “Man of the match” awards don’t really belong in a festival, but one of cricket’s peculiarities is that it’s a team game made up of individual performances, and those individuals should be recognised and encouraged.

So, the thinking was, why not let the players of the opposing team decide who the standout player in the other team was? The Fasken Purple Cap is the result. At the end of each day’s play the captain presents a cap, to be worn the next day, to the player who has impressed his team the most.

You can tell by the body language at those hand-overs that it’s something the players are really enjoying.

It’s been two long days at the cricket already, and there are still two to come. But at least I can subtract them from my age as I get ever older.

 

It's about sitting together in the shade, as much as anything else

 

The idea of playing two-day cricket matches is something new to the 180-odd boys who are at St David’s Marist for the Fasken Time cricket festival. I overheard two of the coaches, both ex-players, discussing how these players won’t get to experience it again, unless they get to the semi-pro level of the game.

Cricket is unique among team games because in no other one do you get to sit around with your team mates for such extended periods, watching the action. This two-day format has increased that time period, it’s a longer opportunity to bond, and speak the trash that cricketers do.

And education, in the end, is all about setting up situations in which young people can learn lessons. The best educators are there, guiding the conversation – lightly – but letting their charges learn for themselves.

That’s cricket, isn’t it? I walked around the grounds at St David’s on Thursday – and you don’t realise how big the Inanda campus is until you tramp from one end of it to the other – and saw at every field the batting teams sitting together in a shady place, ribbing each other, shouting encouragement at the batsmen out there and generally soaking up the socalisation lessons that the game teaches. And sitting with them, slightly to the side, were the coaches, smiling to themselves, butting in from time to time, and quietly teaching life lessons in a unique way.

That’s why it’s worthwhile going to the trouble and expense of setting up an event like this one. As much as learning the cricketing skills and strategy that the longer game teaches, the boys spend hours together learning from each other, and from the men who are with them who, remember, believe it’s important to give up so much of their time to coach them.

The St David’s headmaster, Mike Thiel, at the festival opening breakfast on Thursday, bemoaned the fact that football has appropriated the name “the beautiful game”, he suggested that cricket should call itself “the great game”. He’s not far wrong.

 

There are lessons to be taught and learned

 

The Fasken Time cricket festival at St David’s Marist was last held in 2019 and the results of the, then, 10 two-day games broke more or less even between results and draws.

 Time cricket, in essence, means that the game is limited only by time – a minimum of 110 overs must be bowled in a day and the game time will be extended to accommodate that – but the results of the matches will be determined by the target set and reached, or not reached, at the end of the two days.

 Under those circumstances drawn games are a distinct possibility. Last time out, if memory serves, some of the draws were due to poor captaincy: sides batted too long and declarations came too late to make a win possible. Some of the draws were honourable, though. That can happen when a team is in trouble and through grit and application their batsmen manage to stick around and avoid defeat.

 That’s one of the things that make cricket unique. Two days of play can end in a draw, and that can be really exciting. This festival follows this format because the belief is that the players can learn all sorts of lessons – cricket and life lessons – by being exposed to those sorts of situations.

 At the end of the day, this is school sport, and all school sport should be educational, first, foremost, throughout the contest and after the game is won or lost. And I don’t think any other game provides as many opportunities for lessons to be taught and learned as cricket does.

 Education is about building character – and that’s what cricket’s all about. It’s why the Aims and Format for this festival includes in its introduction the following lines:

 "We ask that Coaches and Managers understand that we encourage some really tough and ruthless cricket – but remembering to always play the game in the appropriate spirit whilst always respecting one’s opposition and putting the game first. Lastly, we encourage teams to play it hard in the middle – but knowing full well that there is absolutely no reason to cross any line."

 Cricket, I think, is the only game that is a metaphor for fair play and decent behaviour. Say the words “it’s just not cricket” and most people will know what you mean. It’s an expression of disapproval used when the rules have been broken and, in its narrow and wider meanings, that refers to the actual laws and the unwritten spirit of the law.

 Take the “mankad”, for instance. It refers to a batsman being run out when he ventures outside of the crease at the bowler’s end. According to the laws, he is out of his ground and certainly out. But the spirit of cricket requires the bowler to warn him once before removing the bails. To do otherwise is just not cricket.

 Any teacher or coach responsible for the running of a school sport programme who doesn’t have in mind that the most important task is to teach children to behave honourably and according to the values and ethics that are included in both the laws of the game and the ephemeral “spirit of the game” is not, in my opinion, doing his or her job.

And a cricket coach who teaches a bowler to mankad a batsman, or for that matter, tells a batsman that it’s OK to steal a yard backing up because there’s no chance that he will be mankaded, is out of line.

 Playing two two-day games over the next few days will present many opportunities for teaching young people to go out into the world, doing good because it’s the right thing to do, because it’s just not cricket to do otherwise.

Fixtures

1^st game September 1 and 2 - Jeppe vs Waterkloof (Baytop Oval, St Stithians), St David’s vs Paul Roos (La Valle Oval, St David’s), Maritzburg College vs KES (Mc Gregor Oval, St David’s), St Stithians vs Lions XI (Dlamini Oval, St Stithians), St Johns vs Clifton (Gier Oval, St David’s), St Andrew’s vs Noordheuwel (La Rosey Oval, St David’s).

2nd game September 3 and 4 - KES vs St Andrews (Baytop Oval, St Stithians), St David’s vs Clifton (La Valle Oval, St David’s), St Stithians vs Maritzburg College (Dlamini Oval, St Stithians), Noordheuwel vs Lions XI (Gier Oval, St David’s), St Johns vs Waterkloof (Mc Gregor Oval, St David’s), Jeppe vs Paul Roos (La Rosey Oval, St David’s).

Why 2-day cricket games are good for schoolboys

 

The Fasken St David’s Time Cricket Festival is back after a two-year Covid-induced break, and it has been increased to 12 teams – 11 schools and a Central Gauteng Lions Invitation XI.

The idea was the brainchild of Dave Nosworthy, director of cricket at St David’s and it started off with six teams, playing two two-day matches each. There has been such a demand to play in it that they have increased the numbers and additional fields at St Stithians are being used this year.

The games take place on September 1 and 2; and September 3 and 4.

You have to ask, given the popularity of the shorter formats of the game, and the convenience that goes with getting them over and done with quickly, why it’s wise to have schoolboy games that last two whole days, and why so many schools are eager to play in them?

There are all sorts of good reasons for exposing schoolboy cricketers to declaration cricket, and to get them playing longer forms of the game, says Nosworthy.

“The batsmen,” he says, “need to learn to spend more time at the crease, without the limited-overs restraints. The bowlers need to be able to bowl longer spells, and be brought back later on. The players need to get a feel for proper cricket, with matches that go on, day after day.”

Limited-overs cricket has become quite formulaic, Nosworthy says. You do certain things at certain stages of the game and there is no room for innovation, and no requirement to apply cricket thinking to unfolding situations on the field.

“It has shown in the performance of our U19 teams in international ‘Youth Tests’ that the players lack the skills required in the longer game,” he said.

“Exposure to time cricket is important to let young players experience what it’s like to bat all day or being on your feet two whole days,’ he said.

“Captains must learn that sometimes you have to be prepared to lose in order to win. They need to be patient, to be brave and to set targets that give them a chance of winning. Those lessons that can’t be taught in limited-overs cricket.”

The 12 captains and 150 odd players that will be at St David’s next week are entering the unknown. It’s going to be a great learning experience for them, and a lot of fun – guaranteed.

Fixtures

1^st game September 1 and 2 - Jeppe vs Waterkloof (Baytop Oval, St Stithians), St David’s vs Paul Roos (La Valle Oval, St David’s), Maritzburg College vs KES (Mc Gregor Oval, St David’s), St Stithians vs Lions XI (Dlamini Oval, St Stithians), St Johns vs Clifton (Gier Oval, St David’s), St Andrew’s vs Noordheuwel (La Rosey Oval, St David’s).

2nd game September 3 and 4 - KES vs St Andrews (Baytop Oval, St Stithians), St David’s vs Clifton (La Valle Oval, St David’s), St Stithians vs Maritzburg College (Dlamini Oval, St Stithians), Noordheuwel vs Lions XI (Gier Oval, St David’s), St Johns vs Waterkloof (Mc Gregor Oval, St David’s), Jeppe vs Paul Roos (La Rosey Oval, St David’s).