Cricket

Cricket Awards

Director of Cricket: • Mr Dave Nosworthy

Cricket Professional:

• Mr Jeff Levin

Senior Coach:

• Mr Jethro Mawudzi

Captain:

• Lyndon Skei

Half Colours:

• Neal Geldenhuys • Connor Jack • Sanskar Sharma

Full Colours:

• Brian Hudson • Ryan Huiskamp • Matthew McCullough • Lyndon Skei • Christopher Wymers

Like all sports codes at St David’s, the Covid-19 pandemic also affected cricket in terms of planned tours, fixtured matches, and certain training initiatives. However, the cricketing staff remained extremely positive and made the best of a bad situation by following all the Covid protocols and getting in several practice sessions and various internal school matches. In some ways these internal matches gave our coaches and staff a really good idea of “who was who” and what skill levels we had and needed to work on. In addition to this Covid “bubble” of internal matches and training sessions, the cricket club also held numerous online sessions when we were not able to be at school. We created our own website and ran live interactive sessions for the boys which covered off all sorts of “cricket awareness” aspects, which often evolved on into some great cricketing discussions. The cricketers throughout the College were superb in terms of patience and desire during these lockdown phases – and it will pay off down the line with improved understanding and performances.

Taking a closer look at 2021 the following areas were key to our success:

Tours and Festivals

• Sadly, this year the annual 1st XI and U15A team tours to the Peninsula Cricket Festival in Cape Town

was cancelled at the last minute owing to the second wave of Covid-19. This was extremely disappointing for the boys as we were all up and ready for the tour. • During Term 1, our 1st XI and our U15A teams also had their Independent Schools Cricket Festivals (ISCF) cancelled – owing to Covid-19 restrictions. • The annual St David’s Fasken Time Cricket Festival, which is normally held at the end of August before we commence our third term, was also this year cancelled for the same reasons. • Wonderfully, in the middle of September, our U14A team were able, under strict Covid-19 protocols, to attend the Trinityhouse Cricket Festival, which was great for the boys. Despite not much cricket under the belt, we came away with some excellent results and many very good individual performances. • During early October our 1st XI was also able to attend the prestigious Michaelmas Week, which was once again hosted by Maritzburg College. The organisers did a superb job in terms of the various Covid-19 protocols; however, it was the weather this year which had the final say with our team managing to complete just two of their five matches, coming away with one win and one loss. For our very young team, this experience was superb, and the boys will only be stronger and more experienced for it down the line. • Over the same period as the Michaelmas Week, we were for the first time also invited to the

Michaelhouse 2nd XI Festival. Very disappointingly this tour got called off by Michaelhouse the day before departure – due to the amount of rain they were experiencing. Next year we hope to attend once again and are hopeful that there’ll be better weather.

Team Reviews

The 1st XI played some indifferent cricket during the first term by finding themselves in winning positions, and then just not being able to convert and get across the line. As we have done over the last few years, we continued to “blood youngsters” into the team – so to have a long-term approach with some of the more seasoned campaigners.

Most of these youngsters are now coming through, and in this last term we started to bear the fruit of our investments as the team became extremely competitive and nudged across the line that much more. In the coming years, we are quietly confident that the 1st XI will step up that much more – and hopefully we will see all the hard work pay off.

The 2nd XI once again played some exciting and winning cricket. As a team, the players always seem to bond extremely well and get across the line with very often with some very solid individual performances. The team this year was made up of boys who continually pushed

for places in the 1st XI and was led by a few senior players who genuinely loved playing the game of cricket and that competitive edge.

The 3rd XI who are often the real lovers of cricket and who just enjoy being out in the middle and being part of both the batting and bowling challenges had a good year of cricket. This year was no different for this team in terms of enjoyment, as they fought extremely hard and had loads of fun along the way. In saying this, the team came up against some very strong opposition – but this never stopped them from performing and playing for the badge at every opportunity.

The U16 XIs worked hard in the first term and showed some real fight in among some winning performances. Without a doubt, they managed to get themselves into quite a few winning positions – and then somehow were not able to push over the line for a win. As a team, we saw a lot of the players really grow and improve – with some kicking straight on into the 1st XI squad in the last term. Overall, they have all held their own, and again the future looks bright if they are prepared to put in the hard work.

The U15 XIs had some really good wins along the way against many of the top Johannesburg boy’s schools. At no stage were these teams ever dominated by the opposition – and in fact, most matches where we lost it was only by a run or two. This is a strong group of players – and if they can all kick on and develop well enough, their last few years at St David’s will be extremely bright and competitive against all and any opposition. As a group, they are all generally committed and keen to grow their games – and so hope that they all remain patient and find it within themselves to keep working hard and to playing for the badge in amongst good friends.

The U14 XIs this year were superb in terms of results and their energy and commitment towards the game. The A-team achieved some superb results against top schools without dominating, while our B- and C-teams won some great matches and showed just what depth and quality we have in this age group. As things stand, the future looks bright for all these young players – if they all remain patient, positive, and keep working hard to improve their individual games whilst ensuring that they all play as a team.

Area and Regional

The Central Gauteng Lions (CGL) franchise held numerous “area and regional” trials for the various age groups during September, and for the first in many years we were able to send many players in the U14, U15, U16, and Open groups who we felt were capable of being selected into some of these CGL teams. As it has happened, and even though in all honesty the CGL selection process and talent identification process were below par – we managed to get 12 of our boys into area and regional teams, which is far more than we have had in many years and is a sign that we are as a school on the right cricketing track. In the coming years, we remain hopeful that there will be many more as boys who missed out get the opportunity to set the record straight in school fixtures and on the various tours.

In General

Cricket at the College continues to grow and to flourish even though covid hit us all hard, and we remain especially proud of the following key aspects: • Our coaching staff are always prepared to go the extra mile. We are made up of College staff members who are good coaches in their own rights and who love the game while watching the boys grow and develop – and our outside coaches who are all hand-picked as qualified coaches or top players still currently playing the game. This combination works well, as the staff and outside coaches gel well to get the job done. We are extremely grateful to all our coaches for their commitment, patience, and simply awesome efforts with the teams! Without such efforts, we would be just an average cricketing school – which we are not! • Our cricket professional and senior coach in Mr Jeff

Levin and Mr Jethro Mawudzi respectively, continue to work extremely hard behind the scenes. Both

Jeff and Jethro, spend structured and planned hours with our Grades 8s and 9s in their PE classes in the morning, then in between classes help to coordinate the various logistical matters for teams, players, and fixtures - and then finally in the afternoon coach in the various pre planned programmes and team coaching sessions. Their efforts and hard work do not go unnoticed, and we are extremely fortunate to have two hard working gentlemen who both love the game, love the challenges, and love seeing the boys grow as both cricketers and good people. Well done to the “J&J” team and long may it continue. • Our ground staff remain superb even though they are extremely stretched across the school with so much going on. No job is too much for Mr Dan

Shibambu and his cricket team, and no stone is ever left unturned in terms of preparing the fields and pitches as best as possible. Very often preparing pitches, positioning boundaries, marking pitches, and cutting outfields etc. is a thankless job – and so we are very thankful and proud of our ground staff under the leadership of Mr Thomas Ramutshindela. • Our facilities remain right up there with some of the best – and these are not our own words or feelings, but rather from the many different teams and school which visit us. Nearly three years ago we relaid the pitch on Gier Oval, and we now have one of the best turf middle pitches around where

plenty of runs are scored, and where bowlers are getting some superb pace and bounce. The other two fields in La Valla Oval and Mc Gregor Oval remain superb fields, however their pitches are now very old and will eventually need to be relaid. Our bank of close to 20 turf practice pitches, and our three batting cages with flood lights and bowling machines are superb and are used basically on a continuous basis. Looking ahead, we still have plans and are working hard towards hopefully having our very own indoor cricket centre (which will be a game changer) – and I sincerely hope that this is not in the too distant future we get some good news. • Our support staff work tirelessly for cricket – be it in catering, administration, finance, management, tournament arrangements or marketing etc, and for this we are extremely grateful and thankful to every single person who just gets stuck in and who helps so much to keep the wonderful game of cricket alive and well. • Our parents have had a tough year – staring through fences, watching from a distance, trying to watch some matches through live streaming, and even disguising themselves by hiding in cars behind the dark tinted glass … Being unable to support and to watch the boys has been really tough I know, for so many parents who don’t only want to just watch their own sons play, but also, and more so, just want to enjoy watching the game and to be able to get outdoors themselves. Finally in early October, the flood gates were opened, and it was great to see those familiar faces again around the fields again after a very frustrating and somewhat unbelievable period. Many thanks as always to you our extremely supportive parents – who still somehow made it work and kept your own boys sane through a frustrating year. Your all deserve medals for your commitment and support to your boys to play this wonderful “game of many life lessons”.

In closing, I am extremely hopeful that 2022 will be a better year for all sports and especially for us all in our own lives. Our 1st XI and U15A XI are off to Cape Town in early January, along with a few more festivals, weeks, and fixtures to come during 2022 – so let us all pray that we will all get in some quality cricket.

Mr D Nosworthy Director of Cricket

Cricket 1st Team

Back row: Keagan Loftie-Eaton, Neal Geldenhuys, Ryan Huiskamp, Christopher Wymers, Sanskar Sharma, Matthew McCullough Front row: Lucien Hallowes, Brian Hudson, Mr L Vicente, Lyndon Skei, Mr J Mawudzi, Paarth Bhatt, Brandon Archer

Cricket 2nd and 3rd Teams

Back row: Saurav Maharaj, Shrian Naidoo, Andrew Bowden, Nicholas Kruger, Connor Human, Connor Munro, Noah Richards, Tiest Samuel Front row: Tawfiq Cassim, James Purchase, Mr D Rigney, Jason Baylis, Mr M Mkonza, Kahlil Ramjee, Gregory Shave

Cricket U16A

Back row: Sam Wearne, Mark Ireland, Thandolwenkosi Khumalo, Ryan Daye, Luke Oosthuizen, Aditya Kumar Front row: Timothy Richard, Sean Honiball, Gomolemo Phiri, Mr J Levin, James Fifield, Jordan Gamsy, Sohan Desai

Cricket U15A

Back row: Aidan Kleynhans, Niklaus Jooste, Campbell Goggin, Connor Barnett, Joshua Jacobs, Nicholas Delport, Ross Hallowes, Jordan Abraham Front row: Shavir Maharaj, Avela Sibisi, Oliver Botha, Mr C Gird, Matthew West, Diego Ferreira, Dylan Hau

Cricket U15B

Back row: Aryan Jagroop, Dhruv Sharma, Gareth Oertel, Elliott Skei, Rio Snaith Front row: Declan Mc Namara, Morwaswi Mello, Yashil Kalan, Mr K Malope, Niklaus Jooste, Jonathan Penumala, Fhatuwani Mudau

Cricket U14A

Back row: Samrat Basu, Simon Less, Jared Stern, Morteza Manack, Luke Mc Laren Front row: Armaan Manack, Ethan Greenstein, Kamogelo Phiri, Mr C Page, Jared Beilings, Ben Archer, Marco Bitter

Cricket U14B

Back row: Uzair Seedat, Aman Razzak, Tarun Vempati 2nd row: James Askew, Luke May, Jonathan Wentworth, Luke Ryan, Gcobani Ndadana, Luca Cabion, Matthew Cole Front row: Solomzi Sibanda, Liam McFadden, Mr D Wyatt, Aston Dargie, Mr S Laphu, Mathew Freed, Luke van Kan

Cricket U14C

Back row: Nicholas Abraham, Panayioti Hajichristoforou, Warwick Bradford, Matthew Mc Lay, Julian Steven-Jennings Front row: Michael Henderson, Jonah Till, Mr D Wyatt, Dominic Taylor, Mr S Laphu, Luke Vorster, Caiden Munro