Neil McKenzie trains Linden cricketers ahead of playing the Proteas

The U8 cricket team at Laerskool Louw Geldenhuys in Linden was trained by bizhub Highveld Lions and former Proteas Batsman Neil McKenzie on 30 October, ahead of taking on the Proteas next year.

The team won an SMS competition recently, entitling them to play against the Proteas at the Bidvest Wanderers Stadium in January next year in the KFC Mini-Cricket vs Proteas Tour – a curtain raiser to the KFC T20 International against West Indies.

They will also play against the bizhub Highveld Lions at the same stadium on 14 November this year in a curtain raiser to the Ram Slam T20 Challenge. The boys received top-quality batting and fielding technique training by a 38-year-old man, who played 58 Tests, 64 One-Day Internationals and two T20 Internationals for the Proteas, accumulating 4 948 international runs.

The boys also had contests with McKenzie that focused on specific skills, such as seeing which player could hit more balls through McKenzie’s legs, or how many catches the team could take in a row, thrown by McKenzie. Everyone had fun, and, much like his professional career, McKenzie did not run out of energy. “The fielding was outstanding, I am very impressed,” he said. “If we field like that we can beat the Proteas.”

He added that the facilities at the school are “unbelievable”, and many schools are currently improving their facilities in order to produce great players. McKenzie will act as assistant coach, and play an active role in the team’s preparation toward the match against the Proteas. Eldre Benadie and JP Piquoto currently coach the U8 cricket team. “I danced when I heard it would be him [Neil McKenzie] coming,” Benadie said.

“He is big in cricket. He is cricket.”

She added that the whole school and their parents will be invited to watch the match with the Proteas. The U8 team to play the bizhub Highveld Lions and Proteas include: Nathan Ferreira, Richardt Barnard, Zacharias Crow, Sandile Gumede, Francois Steyn, Herman Davel, Dawid Louw, Christopher Barnard, Nathan Piquoto and Lincoln Engelbrecht.

Details: Laerskool Louw Geldenhuys pos@llg.co.za, 011 782 5442.