Six school teams go to final cricket battle
JOBURG – The annual Coca-Cola Schools T20 Challenge is set to end on a high when the six school cricket teams battle it out in the final later this month.
The teams were announced at the Bidvest Wanderers Stadium on 8 March and included St Stithians College, representing the Lions; Afrikaans Höer Seunskool, representing the Titans; Grey High School, representing the Warriors; Kearsney College, representing the Dolphins; Paarl Gimnasium, representing the Cobras; and Grey College, representing the Knights.
Present at the announcement was Fetsi Mbele, brand experience senior communications manager at Coca-Cola South Africa, who congratulated each team for reaching the finals.
“This will be an exciting end to the competition and will definitely see more heroes made during the day,” he said.
“For us that’s what it’s all about, creating heroes and giving young cricketers a platform to realise their cricket dreams.”
He added that Coca-Cola was committed to developing cricket in the country and seeing the kids progress and go on to have successful careers in the sport.
Aiden Markram, a Titans player who took part in the competition, spoke of the exposure the competition gave him while playing cricket at school. “It is a tough tournament that requires a great set of skills but it’s also a great platform to showcase talent,” Markram said.
Also present at the launch was Niels Momberg, youth and tertiary cricket manager for Cricket South Africa (CSA), who praised the competition as a good way to showcase the youngsters’ talent.
“We’re proud of the players coming through the programme and we hardly see cricketers in the domestic and national side who haven’t gone through it,” Momberg said.
He also talked about the Blue Chip initiative, started in 2014, which gave schools incentives and measured the schools’ cricketing standards. This meant that more schools were able to take part in the sport, especially those from disadvantaged schools.
The Coca-Cola Schools T20 Challenge final, in its seventh season, will take place at the North West University from 18 to 21 March.
The challenge, a collaboration with Cricket South Africa, saw 665 schools from across South Africa take part in regional and provincial finals, with six schools making it to the national finals and representing their franchise.
Details: www.cricket.co.za
