Straight off the bat the club acknowledged the support and contributions made by their sponsors and club partners.
Many upgrades have taken place at Lords Cricket Grounds during the off-season, including the increase in lighting at the practice nets.
The club house and change rooms have been fully carpeted and a new braai area has been setup in addition to the fully operational tuck shop.
Additional seating has been created outside at the Lords One clubhouse, while Lords Two has had change rooms created for the home and away teams.
Further upgrades are in the pipeline at the grounds, in conjunction with the metro.
An area of major concern for many, if not all, cricket clubs is the security factor.
This has been a financial burden for the club, however, they extended their appreciation to CMS Security for assisting them in the combat against crime at the premises.
Spurs still feel a need for the law enforcement agencies in the Benoni and Actonville areas to increase their visibility in the fight against crime.
Actonville Spurs have lost lighting and pitch covers owing to theft in the past month alone.
On-field changes at the club have seen Seun Beya appointed as head coach of the senior teams, with his directive specifically focused on the Sunday League teams.
The Premier League team have lost a few players due to various reasons, and replacing them with some good youngsters and senior players has been a challenge the club’s administrators have faced up to.
Up-and-coming players like Xolane Mhalangu, Michael Enslin, Ahmed Sayeed Saloojee and Spurs’ highly rated youth prodigy, Mekyle Pillay, only 15 years old, have been drafted in to the Premier League set-up.
Senior players such as Praveshen Chetty and Matthew Nielsen also join the Premier ranks at the club.
“The club’s policy of developing home grown talent is beginning to bear fruit and we believe this will only benefit Easterns Cricket and the Titans franchise in the long term,” said public relations officer Zunaid Seedat.
rotea and Titans player David Wiese, along with Easterns players Imraan Manack and Clayton August, will also feature for the club’s flagship side.
The Premier League team have played two friendlies, against Marks Park and Tembisa, winning both.
On Sunday, they beat Tembisa by 31 runs.
After winning the toss and batting first, ASCC scored 250/9 in 50 overs.
Top scorers on the day were new signing Matthew Nielson with 76 runs and team captain August with 50 runs.
Tembisa managed to score 219 all out.
The skipper used the match as an opportunity to give at least seven players the chance to shine with the ball.
The top bowlers were Xolile Nkomo 4/38 and Pillay 3/34.
The club have entered four junior teams into leagues this season, and four Saturday senior teams.
Seedat added: “We would also like to wish our Muslim members, community and readers a warm Eid-ul-Adha Mubarak for Sunday, October 5.”
