We don’t like cricket, we love it
PARKMORE – Young cricketers keep the nets and field busy every day at Sandton Sports Club.
Young cricketers are at it again at Sandton Sports Club.
Nearly every day there are bowlers, batsmen and fielders doing their thing at George Lea Park, Parkmore, to increase their cricket skills in preparation for the next big match.
The South Africa Cricket Academy has made a return for its second year, where before that there was a long break from cricket at the sports club.
Head coach, Amos Maungwa said coaching was happening every day for players as young as eight and as old as 55, while the academy’s U9 and U11 teams compete in the Gauteng Cricket Board leagues.
“Our club is part of the community and the community can expect us to be here every day offering coaching,” said Maungwa.
“We plan to install a six-net indoor cricket facility in the future. It will be 50m by 20m.”
The coach added that cricket at the academy had been on the up since it launched at George Lea Park in April last year, and the next phase was establishing U13 and U16 teams to compete in leagues.
“We will make a plan to also accommodate anyone who would like to compete in different leagues in the different age groups; if there are enough people.”
The club likes to get batsmen facing balls from the bowling machine from a young age, and it is not rare to see very young players pad up and step into the nets to face balls at 55km per hour or faster.
This while technically-sound fielding drills see youngsters running around on the field tossing balls at wickets and fielding off each other’s throws.
Details: South Africa Cricket Academy info@sacricketacademy.co.za, 060 900 0625.
Also read: First team cricket player from Hyde Park High is given a guard of honour after his final game
If you know of sport stories you would like published, let us know about them by e-mailing our sports editor at nicholasz@caxton.co.za
