All for love on the field of play
It seems cricket is not all about bats and bowling.
SuperSport Park came to a standstill when one lucky couple’s dreams became a reality as they got engaged out on the field, in front of thousands of spectators during the Tshwane Spartans and Paarl Rocks clash.
PREVIOUS READ:
Thinking of popping the question? You could do it live at the Mzansi Super League!
There was probably no better backdrop when Jacques Storm (32) decided that it was time to “do the right thing” and ask his girlfriend of three years, Lizelle Smit (24), for her hand in marriage.
What he might not have known was that his cameo inning would eclipse all cheers that might have been reserved for AB de Villiers, Faf du Plessis and Tabraiz Shamsi.
Storm, having given his idea to the tournament organisers, hoodwinked his soon-to-be fiancée into believing that they were lucky ticket winners, and that they had to claim their ultimate prize out on the field during the interval break.
Then, as the live SABC cameras were rolling, he got down on one knee to ask Smit for her hand in marriage.
“Let me tell you this, my mouth was so dry and I was so nervous that I battled to get the words out, but I think she understood what I was trying to say,” said Storm as he recalls one of the most important days of his life.
“Lizelle was also so nervous she almost started crying.
“I think it was seeing so many people sitting and cheering behind us.
“I am a sporting person, having played SA Schools cricket when I was 19, so there was no better place for me to do what I considered the right thing to do, and to be with a person that has contributed immensely to me over the last two years.
“I didn’t want to do the obvious and go to a restaurant.
“I knew she was going to say yes…but my colleagues at work kept asking me, ‘what if she says no’. In the days leading up to the event, and I must confess, it did create some doubt but I was mostly convinced that she would say yes, because we had just moved in together the week before.
“I wanted to make it unique – so I am glad that I could get to do it in an MSL game because the spectators kept coming to congratulate us for the rest of the game, even when we went out for drinks after the match, people recognised us.
“Let me put it this way: We have received plenty of venue suggestions for our marriage but, even if is behind the sight screen at a cricket field, I am just glad that Lizelle said yes when I proposed to her, and that I am going to be spending the rest of my life with her,” said Storm.
Smit also added, “I am not going to lie, I was definitely not expecting it, but it turned out to be a fantastic night, it turned out to be a really good shock.”
It seems cricket is not all about bats and bowling, but Smit was definitely bowled over by her boyfriend, now fiance’s, proposal.
