It's amazing how acclimatizing helps.... wish the teams would start learning this....
So true. Was listening to Botham/Hussain after test ended yesterday and they were stressing the importance of not getting to high and too low. This team needs to go to Sri Lanka and you need 3 'proper' warm-up games and not 12-15 a-side firendly crap.It's amazing how acclimatizing helps.... wish the teams would start learning this....
The Rondebosch Boys' High School, in suburban Cape Town, might be the only school in the world to produce cricketers who have played for four different countries. Gary Kirsten (among others) played for South Africa, Jonathan Trott represented England, Ralph Coetzee turned out for Ireland, while Michael Rippon plays for Netherlands.
They're all similar players, full of grit and skill who more often than not punch above their weight, and this seems to be a trademark of the Rondebosch ethos. Take the 23-year-old Zubayr Hamza for example, one of the youngest members of the South Africa A squad currently touring India, their leading run-scorer on the tour, and a recent alumnus of school.
Three fifties and two hundreds in his last five first-class games for Cape Cobras helped Hamza earn a maiden A-team call-up, and he hasn't disappointed. The right-handed top-order batsman smacked 104 in the warm-up game against India's Board President's XI, followed it up with a second-innings 63 in the first unofficial Test and then capped the series with a 93 in the second. These returns would satisfy most players on their maiden away tour, but not Hamza. Instead, he's always thinking about his own game and yearning for ways to refine his skills.
"Scoring a hundred in the warm-up game, and then getting a third-ball duck on the first innings of the first Test - it just showed me cricket's two opposite spectrums," Hamza said after the penultimate day of the second unofficial Test. "One day may be yours, the other day it may not. In the second innings of the first Test as well, I could've converted into a hundred, so it's the small things mentally, where decisions are made in the moment, that I think I could do better."
One of Hamza's qualities on this tour has been to play positive cricket: with intent, confidence and a clear mind. His shots, to both spin and pace alike, have displayed a certain clear-headedness, and the extra hours at training have helped him achieve that level of zen.
"I worked quite a lot with the batting coaches regarding footwork, playing the ball as late as possible, and kind of respecting the power which a spinner can have in various conditions, Hamza said. "I worked on the simple things - the basics and the strength of my batting. As an individual, you try and learn as much as you can. It's something all batsmen thrive to do, regardless of conditions - to know how to go about executing their game plan.
"For me, it's more about the mindset. One of the toughest challenges in any match - at any level - is to see if I can try and compete at that level. So It's a question I keep asking myself, 'can I compete here?' Russell [Domingo, the coach] and I worked on some subtle changes in my technique, but a lot goes to the mindset of playing at a higher level than usual."
Despite a successful tour on a personal front, Hamza's team is destined for a series loss. After losing the first unofficial Test with just seven balls remaining in Bengaluru, a rain-hit second Test in Alur is unlikely to produce a result. But, South Africa A have dominated multiple spells of play over the last four days, and Hamza puts that down to the team's attitude following the early defeat.
"I think we took the loss quite harsh," Hamza said. "Before coming to India, we were upbeat and positive but getting dominated in the first Test is quite a tough pill to swallow. So, I think for us to have come back, and change our mindset, we had to be positive to come back and try and compete in this game. I think we've done well. It was a collective team decision to forget the previous game, besides the learnings we took from it. We had a good momentum shift on the second day, and we're back in this game, but unfortunately the rains played quite a big part In this fixture."
Next for Hamza, perhaps, is a call-up to the national side - with the senior Test team struggling against spin in subcontinental conditions as seen in their 2-0 loss in Sri Lanka - but the resident of the "Mother City" says he tries to live in the present and prefers working on his own game. As a non-Asian, Hamza understands the importance of batting well in Asia, and knows that acing it abroad holds the key to bigger things in his cricketing career.
"I haven't thought about it at all," Hamza responded on his hopes for a Test call-up. "As I said before, it's about proving to myself whether I can play in this level, which is obviously a step above my usual. I'll take it one step at a time, and I haven't thought about it yet. The pitches obviously don't spin as much at home, but if you want to go forward and think progressively in cricket, then you need to be able to play in subcontinental conditions."
CRICKET SOUTH AFRICA (CSA) today announced a new initiative to retain its identified talent from its youth structures for a period until they are taken up within the Senior Provincial or Franchise structures.
“A number of our under-19 players have already been awarded franchise or senior provincial contracts,” commented Corrie van Zyl, CSA General Manager: Cricket. “Two players in point are Wandile Makwetu and Sinethemba Qeshile who have already been contracted to the Multiply Titans and the Warriors respectively.
“But it is important that we have regulations in place to keep the talent, in which we have invested a great deal of our resources within the system, available for the next level of our talent pipeline such as the SA Emerging Squad, South Africa A and eventually the Standard Bank Proteas in the long-term.
“All players, who are chosen to represent South Africa at under-19 level, are required to sign retention contracts which remain in place until they are superseded by senior provincial or franchise contracts. The seven players listed below are those who have now moved on from CSA under-19 contracts to franchise or senior provincial contracts,” concluded Van Zyl.
“It is a great achievement for these boys,” said CSA Chief Executive Thabang Moroe. “They have shown their immense talent during the tour to England last month and with our strategy of retaining talent in mind we wanted to recognize their importance and safeguard their development at this crucial period of their careers. This will motivate the players to stay focused on their game while ensuring that South African cricket keeps hold of the best young players within our structures.”
CSA South Africa Under-19 contracted players who have now been awarded senior provincial or franchise contracts: Jade de Klerk (Eastern Province), Jean du Plessis (South Western District), Wandile Makwetu (Multiply Titans), Kgaudise Molefe (Gauteng), Jason Niemand (Border), Thando Ntini (Western Province), Sinethemba Qeshile (Warriors)
Neil moved to TUKS in January and was made Captain, he was the leading run scorer at the T20 Varsity Cup, Player of the Tournament and Man of the Match in the final scoring 59* and taking 2/20. TUKS won the Premier League and attended National Club Champs where Neil was once again the leading run scorer, Man of the Match in the final scoring 120 and named Cricket South Africa Club Cricketer of the Year. TUKS also won the T20 Super Cup Final in which Neil was named Man of the Match. He made his First Class debut for Northerns and achieved all of this in half a season. We’ve been fortunate to work with Neil since he was U14.
The Knights had their annual awards ceremony on Wednesday night at Tuscan Rose, in Bloemfontein.
Duanne Olivier, in absentia, won the big award as he was announced as the Knights' most valuable player. Rudi Second, also in absentia, celebrated one of the most successful seasons of his career by taking two awards home, the Sunfoil 4-Day Series Player of the year and Knights Player’s player of the year.
Young Patrick Kruger also walked away with two awards as he was announced as the One Day Cup Player of the Year and winner of the Knights Fans Choice Award.
This year the Knights introduced a new category, Knights Fans Choice Award. Fans sent in names of their players of the year and a fan with best motivation was selected to join the awards ceremony. This year’s winner was Shaheed George from Kimberley. Shaheed and a partner of his choice were brought to Bloemfontein and booked accommodation for the night, all expenses paid. Shaheed even had the honour to present the award to the player of his choice, Patrick Kruger.
Other winners of the night were David Miller (T20 Player of the year) and Mbulelo Budaza (Knights Most Improved Player of the Year).
Knights 2018/2019 squad:
Pite van Biljon (captain), Ottneil Baartman, Mbulelo Budaza, Corne Dry, Andries Gous, Eddie Leie, Ryan Mclaren, Patrick Kruger, Luthando Mnyanda, Grant Mokoena, Tshepo Ntuli, Duanne Olivier, Keegan Petersen, Zakhele Qwabe, Rudi Second, Shadley van Schalkwyk and Raynard van Tonder.
The Australia A opening bowlers, Stanlake and Jhye Richardson were impressive: bowled hostile first spells; with good pace and good bounce.Australia A also got well beat by India A but they selected a good team and a number of them will be in the WC 15.