South Africa’s top young cricket talent will be in action in Pretoria during the Coca-Cola Khaya Majola U19 Cricket Week that starts today.
A total of 16 teams will be made up of U19 players representing their various provinces in the tournament that has become known as a stepping stone for youngsters to one day represent their country.
South Africa’s top young cricket talent will be in action in Pretoria during the Coca-Cola Khaya Majola U19 Cricket Week that starts today.
A total of 16 teams will be made up of U19 players representing their various provinces in the tournament that has become known as a stepping stone for youngsters to one day represent their country.
Teams taking part in the Cricket Week are Boland, Border, Easterns, Eastern Province, Free State, Gauteng Lions, Griquas, Kwa Zulu Natal Coastal, Kwa Zulu Natal Inland, Limpopo, Mpumalanga, Namibia, North West, Northerns, South Western Districts and Western Province.
Representing the EP side from Grahamstown are Andrew Mills (St Andrew’s College), Marco Lombard and Brad Haller (Kingswood College) and Odwa Xonxa (Graeme College). Carl Bradfield, director of cricket at St Andrew’s, is the EP team coach.
Eastern Province face KZN Inland in today’s declaration game.
In a statement issued by Intune Communications & Entertainment, Phindi Sihlangu said the week “is Cricket South Africa's (CSA) top cricket development programme and one of the biggest influences in the CSA development pipeline”.
Talent scouts from various provinces, franchises and universities watch the U19 Week to identify the most promising players of the bunch.
Many of the current Proteas squad took part in one of the Cricket Weeks. Current and former Proteas such as AB de Villiers (Proteas ODI), Hashim Amla, JP Duminy, Makhaya Ntini, Graeme Smith and Neil McKenzie got their first taste of truly competitive cricket in this tournament. Proteas new additions that have participated in the tournament include Quinton de Kock, Rilee Rossouw, Reeza Hendricks and most recently, Kagiso Rabada, who represented Gauteng just last year.
Wayne Parnell took part in three Coke Week tournaments and went on to captain the SA U19 team in the 2008 ICC U19 World Cup, and received his Proteas call-up a year later. Parnell is the official Coca-Cola Khaya Majola U19 Week ambassador.
“This is the best platform to test your skills, make friends and more importantly, to have fun,” said Parnell in the statement, as he urged players to hold nothing back when they set foot on the pitch.
Day 1, Wednesday 17 December – Declaration Cricket, fixtures:
Western Province vs Free State
Gauteng vs Boland
Eastern Province vs KZN Inland
KZN Coastal vs
Northerns Mpumalanga vs Limpopo
Namibia vs Griquas
Border vs SWD
North West vs Easterns
sport@grocotts.co.za
