The cream of South Africa’s cricketing youth will descend on the Cape Peninsula over the next week for the annual Coca-Cola Khaya Majola Cricket Week.
The national schools sides of Zimbabwe and Namibia will join 16 local provincial sides, in two sections, to play round robin matches from Tuesday until Friday followed by playoffs on Saturday.
The matches are all limited-overs contests, 50 overs a side, with the two teams that top the Platinum Group (A Section) log at the end of the pool matches meeting in the final, at Rondebosch Boys’ High on Saturday.
The Gold Group (B Section) has been extended to eight teams this year with the inclusion of Namibia and, for the first time, a team from South Western Districts. They have been divided into two sections and will contest cross-pool semi-finals on Friday, followed by the final and playoff matches on Saturday.
The hosts, Western Province are the defending champions, they beat Free State in the final of a rain-affected week in Vereeniging last year. They had two representatives in last year’s South African Schools team — William Hantam and Rory Kleinveldt — and four in the SA Schools Colts team.
Those players have all since moved on and Western Province will field a fairly inexperienced side this time round. Only two players — captain Andrew Cronje and fast bowler Vernon Philander were in last year’s triumphant squad.
2001 was Western Province’s third title, the most by any province since the limited-overs format was introduced in 1996. Province has what looks like an easy opening encounter in their first game. They meet Zimbabwe in Bellville.
Their opponents in last year’s final were Free State, who were the surprise package of the 2001 week. They won their first two games in style and made it into the
final despite not being able to play at all on the fourth day because of the rain.
They unearthed, in Riel de Kok, a batsman with a bright future. He made 128 against Zimbabwe, and 79 against North Gauteng and was selected for the SA Schools team.
Andre de Lange is another batsman with plenty of promise. He made 109 not out against Gauteng in the first game. Both players are back again this year and big things are expected of them. Free State’s first game is against Border in Durbanville tomorrow.
KwaZulu-Natal will be fielding a fairly experienced side with five players back again. Included in the five are Adrian Penzhorn, who was their top-scorer last year and who made the SA Colts side. His Maritzburg College team mate, Peter Grant, also made runs last year and he too will be back in action this year.
Border will be captained this year by Grant Howell, son of international umpire Ian Howell. Howell was in last year’s SA Schools team. Border will be the most experienced side in the week. They have seven of last year’s squad back again.
Eastern Province, winners of the title in 1999, were robbed of the chance of beating Western Province on the rain-affected third day last year and this saw them in the unfamiliar situation of playing off for 5th place.
This year they have 17-year-old Mpumelelo Slwana, of Grey High School, in their ranks. Slwana was captain of the Ussasa under-17 team that took the Gold Group title last year.
Gauteng, by their standards, had a poor week in 2001. They lost in a crucial clash against Eastern Province when victory would have put them in the final.
So narrow was the margin for error in this rain-affected tournament that the loss saw them play in the 7th place playoff game. They have in their ranks Vaughn van Jaarsveld who has got everyone talking following his 57 runs off 59 balls for the
Highveld Strikers against Western Province, on debut. Gauteng also have the experienced Neil Winspear in their ranks, as well as Khaled Moothamsamy and Sandile Masuingeni, both of whom have represented Gauteng at senior B level this season. Also in their ranks is Morne Morkel, whose brothers Malan and Albie both played SA Schools.
Gauteng’s neighbour, North Gauteng will be fielding an experienced side. Their captain Francois du Plessis is in his fourth Coca-Cola Khaya Majola Week and he will be ably assisted by SA Schools’ AB de Villiers, one of the batting stars of last year’s
tournament and Heinrich le Roux, who opened the bowling for Northerns last season.
Also in the side is Heino Kuhn, who was one of the stars of the Usaasa under-17 side last year. North Gauteng meet Gauteng in their opening fixture on Tuesday in a crucial game.
The Gold Group was won last year by the Ussasa under-17 combination. This team is chosen at the Summer Games tournament that precedes the Coca-Cola Khaya Majola Week, so they were involved in their second straight week of cricket, making their achievement even more noteworthy.
The Gold group now has eight teams. There will therefore be semi-finals and a final, giving the competition more of a knock-out flavour than it had last year, when the six teams involved played five league games, with the top side being declared the winner of the trophy. – Sapa