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2008 Schools Twenty20 cricket festival
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the photos
All teams arrived safely on Sunday afternoon to a blustery
Gonubie hotel created by a howling south westerly wind. The
Settlers boys from Limpopo province were last in arriving just
before the start of the captains meeting at 16H00. Many of these
boys had not seen the sea before so you can imagine there
fascination with the huge rolling waves.
The welcome steak evening at the Beacon Bay country club was
enjoyed by all. Serene and her team prepared a top notch meal.
After a short welcome from SA Sports Tours™, the boys each
received a genuine Hummel Proteas leisure shirt.
Games got off on a sunny Monday morning with Settlers taking on
Lillyfontein at Old Selbornians. Lillyfontein winning the game
by 5 wickets. At Hamilton club Kingsway High from Amanzimtoti
batted first against St Georges College from PE and ended up
winning comfortably by 133 runs. In the afternoon games the East
London invitational side beat St Georges college by 7 wickets at
Old Boys and Kingsway won a nailbiter by 3 wickets at Hams
against George Campbell Technical school from Durban.
Tuesday saw the wind come up once more but thankfully not as
badly as predicted by the weatherman. At Old boys George
Campbell beat St Georges College by 7 wickets in what proved to
be a far tighter affair then the result suggested. At Bohs
Settlers lost to the EL invitation side by 96 runs. The
afternoon game saw Lillyfontein go down by eight wickets to
Kingsway High at Old Boys and Settlers lose by 8 wickets to
George Campbell at Bohs.
On Wednesday morning the George Campbell boys went down to the
EL invitation side at Old boys by 7 wickets, while at Bohs
Lillyfontein and St Georges played out a humdinger. St Georges
batted first scoring 79. Lillyfontein never looked comfortable
chasing this relatively small total and lost wicket at crucial
stages along the way, thanks to some tight bowling and committed
fielding from the St Georges boys. With the scores tied and one
ball to bowl the bowler let the last ball slip down leg side for
a wide giving Lillyfontein the victory by 3 wickets. The
afternoon game at Old boys saw Settlers go down by 8 wickets to
Kingsway High while in the afternoon game at Bohs Lillyfontein
put up a brave fight against the strong EL invitation side
eventually losing the game by 5 wickets.
On Friday morning at Old boys Lillyfontein again put up a strong
fight to push George Campbell all the way before going down by 3
wickets. At Bohs the EL invitation side batted first and was
held back by some tight bowling from Kingsway. Batting second
Kingsway were cruising along at 72 for 1 after 8 before the
wheels fell off and they fell short by 18 runs. The afternoon
game at Old Boys saw the ever improving St Georges college side
bat first and eventually win the game against a spirited
Settlers side by 20 runs.
The closing function and prize giving was held at the Gonubie
Hotel. Thanks must go to Robin and his staff for the wonderful
spread. Certainly the tastiest and most tender gammon I have
tasted for a long time. The lamb stew was also superb as was the
Malva pudding. It was also nice to see a group of parents travel
down from Durban and join us at the final function. Prizes were
awarded as follows:
• The team playing the most exciting cricket went to Kingsway
High from Toti
• The team with the most spirit went to the Settlers
agricultural school from Limpopo province.
Thanks must go to the umpires, scorers and Vince for the stats.
They all did a wonderful job. Congratulations also to the boys
on playing positive and exciting cricket. Most of all I must
compliment all 6 teams on their behavior both on and off the
field. Everyone from the hotel manager to the ladies who
provided the lunches could not stop remarking on their good
manners and excellent behaviour. Without exception they are a
credit to the schools they represent.
We look forward to seeing all the teams back next year at this
annual event as it grows from strength to strength. Looking at a
calendar we would possibly host the opening function on Thursday
24 Sept and play over 3 days not 4 as we have done this year
with the closing function taking place on Sun 27 Sept. If we are
able to attract a full field of 12 teams, which I am sure we
will, we intend dividing the 12 into two pools of 6 based on
strength. Each team plays every side in their pool once (5
games, 2 per day on 2 days and one game on 1 day).
Dale Wrede.
Batting Statistics (.pdf)
Bowling Statistics (.pdf)To see the photos from this tournament,
click here
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