Next week
this time we’ll be into day one of the first two-day matches at the Fasken St
David’s Time Cricket Festival.
Interesting
name. Time cricket is a cricket thing, I’ll get into that just now, but it’s
also Fasken time. When Dave Nosworthy, director of cricket at St David’s decided
to change what was the a pretty successful T20 tournament at this time of the
year into a time cricket event – for reasons we’ll also get to later – he probably
never dreamed that the players and coaches at schools that play in it would in time get
to rub their hands, once the rugby final whistle was blown, and the last hooter sounded at the
hockey turf, and say it’s Fasken time!
There’s the
excitement of getting out there after a long winter of indoor nets, but there’s
also the exclusivity and prestige involved. Serious sporting schools know what “the
Fasken” means. No explanation is needed, just like with Nomads, Noord-Suid,
SACS tournament, Michaelmas.
It’s Fasken
time – let’s get going.
But it’s
also Fasken Time Cricket. Time cricket is a bit of misnomer because time doesn’t
really count, outside of the overall number days allocated – five in a Test,
four in a first class game, two at the Fasken. And there is no limited number
of overs that a side can bowl. You have to bowl the opposition out, or their
captain can declare, setting you a target.
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.”
In limited-overs cricket there’s no room for innovation, and no requirement to apply cricket thinking to
unfolding situations on the field, Nosworthy believes.
“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.
And 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.
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.
It’s Fasken
(Time cricket) time!
The fixtures
are:
Game 1 (28 and 29 August) - Waterkloof
vs St David’s (La Valla Oval), Clifton vs Noordheuwel (Gier Oval), St Andrews
vs Jeppe (La Rosey), St Charles vs KES (Temba Bavuma Oval), Nelspruit vs St
Johns (Mitchell Oval), Lions XI vs St Stithians (Dlamini Oval).
Game 2 (30 and 31 August) - St
David’s vs Lions XI (La Valla Oval), St Johns vs St Charles (Mitchell Oval), St
Stithians vs St Andrew’s (Dlamini Oval), Jeppe vs Waterkloof (Gier Oval), KES
vs Clifton (Temba Bavuma Oval), Noordheuwel vs Nelspruit (La Rosey).
