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.