The 2018/2019 Cricket South Africa (CSA) senior provincial season culminates with its final fixtures this weekend.
Regardless of the outcome, it has been the most successful season for Easterns cricket since the start of franchise cricket in 2002.
This season, under the leadership of coach Richard das Neves and skipper Grant Thomson, Multiply Titans stalwart, the side has played some exciting and nail-biting cricket with numerous games going down to the wire.
It all concludes this weekend with Easterns taking on Eastern Province in the final fixture with all to play for.
The season started with the Africa Cup competition where Easterns were drawn in a tough group alongside the previous winners and hosts KwaZulu-Natal Inland, the three-day champions KwaZulu-Natal Coastal, a formidable Western Province and the African side Uganda.
The team were also handed the toughest fixtures in the group, playing four games in two days where all the other teams played four games in three days.
This was all used as motivation by the coaching staff for the team to prove everyone wrong and do the unthinkable and reach a knockout game.
The team did just that, winning the first three games emphatically and topping the pool to qualify for the semi-finals.
It was a first for the union since the inception of the Africa Cup and the first knock-out game Easterns were apart of for 16 years.
What made it even more impressive is that Easterns only had one franchise contracted player in the squad, Thomson, where all the other teams had four.
In fact, most of the other teams had national players in their team such as Dane Patterson for Western Province or Andile Phehlakwayo for KwaZulu-Natal.
Das Neves credits this to hard work, culture and belief in abilities.
“We only made one or two changes to the team from the year before, but the belief and investment into the side was a major factor in our success,” he said.
“The group of players went into a bubble to avoid outside distractions and focused on what is important. “
The team were then drawn to face the host team Border in East London on finals weekend and although they got into a great position at 102/3 with eight overs to go, they collapsed to 132 all out, a disappointing end to the tournament but a great platform for the rest of the season.
The Africa Cup served as a platform for a player like Dyllan Matthews to be named in the team of the tournament and then also to be purchased alongside Grant Thomson in the inaugural Mzansi Super League.
Matthews was purchased by the Nelson Mandela Bay Giants and Thomson by the Paarl Rocks. Thomson played a massive role in getting the Paarl side into the playoffs.
The three-day season was a bit stop-start for the side which performed well at times, but inconsistently at other times.
The team sit in a position where a good result in the three-day game this week against Eastern Province would leave the team with a chance of finishing in the top four (out of 13 provincial sides). Easterns have one of the most feared bowling line-ups in the country and this is perhaps the reason why many teams have prepared flat wickets in the games they have hosted.
“The side has been a bit unlucky in the three-day game,” added das Neves.
“We lost a close one against Gauteng which could have gone either way and have had a few good chasing games away from home where we have run out of time.
“It could have been a lot better but the log at the end of the season reflects the cricket you have played, and we just haven’t been consistent enough in three-day cricket.
“However, finishing the season on a high (fourth or fifth place) would again be a great achievement considering the highest the team has finished in the last eight years is sixth, achieved last year in Das Neves’ first season in charge.
Great performers have been Wesley Marshall, Grant Thomson, Ryan Cartwright, Kabelo Sekhukhune and Matthew Arnold.
The one-day campaign has been the real highlight of the season for this Easterns side.
Easterns go into the last game on top of Pool A with 25 points, ahead of both Gauteng and Eastern Province with more games won and Free State on 22 points.
March 31 will be a nail-biting day as Easterns play Eastern Province in East London.
Gauteng play KZN in Johannesburg and Free State play Boland in Paarl.
It is a great advert for the CSA one-day competition as all four teams can still make the final.
Out of the nine games that Easterns have played this season, seven of the games have gone to the last over with Easterns winning five of them.
Imraan Manack and Matthew Arnold are tied second in the leading wicket-takers, and Wesley Marshall is in fourth place in the leading runs-scored.
“Credit must go the coaching staff led by Richard, his assistant coach Tumelo Bodibe and fitness trainer Zane Webster for the massive influence that have had in turning a mediocre side into a team that is now regularly competing within the structures of Cricket South Africa,” said Hilton Nortje, acting CEO of the Eastern Cricket Union.
The team has had five players represent the Multiply Titans in the past season, again a first for the union.
Thomson, Clayton August, Sekhukhune, Sizwe Masondo and Matthew Arnold have all represented the Titans this season and three of them made their debuts for the franchise.
Manack and Marshall also toured with the side and no doubt their debuts are around the corner.
Win or lose on Sunday, this has without a doubt been a successful season for the Easterns Senior provincial side and one that will not be forgotten in a hurry.
Follow the team on Facebook, ‘Eastern Cricket’.
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