Cricketers ready to compete

With the United Stars Cricket’s Johannesburg Winter League set to start on 9 May, there is excitement in the air as more than 100 teams have registered for the incoming season.

United Stars Cricket was founded by Mars Vickery and Sifundile Tyebileyo. Vickery said the Winter League launched in 2015 and only a handful of teams joined and matches were played on three fields.

“We are proud to say that this year will be our biggest yet with over 1 500 players about to play matches on 19 fields. This in itself is the fruits of many hard years of work,” said Vickery. Some of the games in the league are set to take place in Sunninghill.

With the country currently in Level 1 lockdown, Vickery said he was ‘incredibly excited’ to kick off the league in May after their season was cancelled last year due to the coronavirus outbreak.

“As with many things in 2020, there was great disappointment when we had to cancel our plans for the year, but we understood that we needed to be responsible for not only our players but for our country.

“The eagerness of all players and coaches this year has been so encouraging and we can’t wait to see players out on the fields doing what they do best.”

He added, “Cricket tends to be a seasonal sport being played mainly in the warmer summer months. Young cricketers can look forward to filling up their year with week in and week out play, allowing their talents to really develop consistently.

“Winter League is a competitive tournament seeing all teams vying for the top position in their age category, much like the international tournaments watched on TV by budding young cricketers. They too have the chance to display their skill and do all they can to take the trophy in the end.”

Vickery concluded that future plans included adding a senior category as well as a streaming service that allowed players further exposure.