The Hoërskool Hans Moore cricket team set tongues wagging following a run of exceptional performances at the Cape Town Cricket Festival hosted by Paarl Boys’ High School from January 6 to 10.
They rubbed shoulders with some of the country’s top cricketing schools and while the reputation of schools like Paul Roos Gimnasium and Paarl Gimnasium spoke volumes, Hans Moore showed their class by letting their work do the talking.
The school’s u-15A team won all their matches.
ALSO READ: B20 Cricket Bowls is back!
The senior team only managed to win three of their four matches – losing narrowly to Paul Roos by five runs.
The school’s director of cricket, Paul Amorim, was full of praise for how the team performed.
“One of the talking points in the evenings, when the coaches met, was the statement we made which is the mindset we went with.
“If we carry on like this, it’s going to be good. The key thing is to keep the consistency and I see that if we can maintain the form that we are in, I see us winning the Finsbury league in our division and possibly have a successful year going forward,” Amorim said.
While their pre-season was successful, the coach said the players should take this form into the upcoming Finsbury Super League.
“We are in a good position. Our preparation for 2022 was very good. We’ve just played a warm-up match on Saturday and we saw some consistent individual and team performances from a bowling and batting perspective.
“We are heading into the league, which starts on Saturday, and our first game is against Potchefstroom Gimnasium and it’s going to be a difficult game.”
In the Cape Town Cricket Festival, most of their opponents’ reputations preceded them. However, Hans Moore’s tenacious efforts drove them to victory.
“One of my discussions with my u-19 boys was that they can show respect to a school like Paul Roos because of their infrastructure and reputation but on the field of play, it’s every man for himself. We made a statement and schools like Paarl Gimnasium and Grey College in Bloemfontein have invited us for matches.”
U-15 captain Adrian Watson told the paper that even though the playing conditions were difficult, it was good preparation for the season ahead.
“We batted on very difficult conditions. The heat and wind were a major factor and we had to graft for our runs.
“I was excited and it was a privilege for the team to go there. We are glad and that has given us confidence going into the Finsbury League.”
Results from the Cape Town Cricket Festival:
U-15A
Day 1 – Beat Westville Boys’ High School outright as Westville couldn’t come out to bat for their second innings.
Day 2 – Hans Moore dismissed Parel Vallei High School 102 all out and successfully chased that total to win by two wickets.
Day 3 – Batted first and posted 136/10 and managed to defend their score as they dismissed Curro Durbanville 121 all out in their 50 overs – winning by 15 runs.
Day 4 – Bowled first against Paarl Gimnasium and dismissed Paarl 102 all out and successfully chased that total to win by six wickets.
U-19A
Day 1 – Defeated JTG Cricket Association by first innings total
Day 2 – Beat Paarl RPC by 45 runs. Batted first and posted 203/10 and restricted RPC to 158 all out.
Day 3 – Lost to Paul Roos by 5 runs. Paul Roos posted 107 and Hans Moore was dismissed for 102.
Day 4 – Dismissed Hoërskool Brackefell 50/10 in 33.3 overs. Hans Moore chased that total in 9.2 overs to win by eight wickets.
ALSO READ: A cricket derby shows great results
