The Free State Eagles entrenched their status as one of the country’s premier cricket teams when they defeated the Titans in a low-scoring thriller in the Standard Bank Cup final last week.
Eagles coach Corrie van Zyl was loathe to talk about having a domestic stranglehold on the game, despite the fact that his team defended their limited-overs title and won just about everything on offer last season.
”We’ve been a bit lucky so far; we don’t want to be seen as a conceited bunch,” said Van Zyl on Monday.
The quietly spoken bowling guru and stand-out coach had just suffered a tyre puncture when the South African Press Association called, and in between trying to negotiate his car to the side of the road, he spoke of his team’s attributes and ambitions for the rest of the season.
”This may sound like a well-worn cliché, but this year’s trophy came about through a complete team effort,” said Van Zyl. ”We bowled outstandingly well, as a unit and individually.
”The batting contributions came from all over, and while no batsman dominated the tournament, all the players came through at the right times,” he added. ”That said, Loots [Bosman] did have a decent series.”
The Eagles started their defence of the four-day Supersport competition late last year in unconvincing fashion after losing their opening three games, but won their fourth encounter.
”There is still plenty to do in the four-day competition, but reaching the final is still one of our aims,” said the former Free State bowler.
Van Zyl also said his team have set their sights on winning the Pro 20 Cup, and based on their limited-overs form, they could be the team to beat. — Sapa