The first term of 2008 was a fairly successful one for both the u/15 and u/19 teams.

Under 15

Mr Miller, the u/15 manager, used the midweek (20/20) matches to try out some of the Grade 8s alongside more experienced players, in order to establish the best combination for the more important Knock-out matches. This proved a more than useful exercise, as the team lost only two of these matches. More significantly, we realised that there was real potential among a number of new players, with one in particular, Wasfie Price, showing tremendous promise. Price is a bowler who can generate real pace, and an attacking batsman with a very good eye. Wasfie has been participating in the regional nets programme, from which players are identified for provincial selection.

In the Knock-out matches, the team performed very well, reaching the third round after beating Steenberg High and St Georges Grammar School convincingly. They lost to SACS in the third round. Besides Wasfie, other key players were Nathan Pitts, also a classy all-rounder, and Yusuf de Wet, a gritty opening batsman and off-spin bowler. Below is the team (left), with Price third from left in the back row, and de Wet third from left in front. Pitts was absent from this photo. Some of the other regular u/19s  were not available when the photo was taken.

Under 19

The u/19s fared even better in their midweek games, winning all of them (although there were many cancellations - a great source of frustration), and also reaching the third round of the Knock-out. In this competition the team beat St Joseph’s College by 99 runs in the first round and Zwaanswyk (who had beaten champions Wynberg Boys’ in the previous round) by 92 runs. Unfortunately they lost by 40 runs to SACS in the third round. Key players for this team were captain Blake Parks, an outstanding quick bowler whose middle-order batting has developed markedly over the past few months, wicketkeeper-batsman Ridah Isaacs (son of ex-students Shafiek Isaacs (former provincial schools’ cricketer and soccer player) and Moonerah Musson (former volleyball star), and leg-spinner Lindsay O’Malley, whose high action creates difficulty for batsmen with the bounce he generates. Both Blake and Ridah scored centuries, against Tafelberg and St Joseph’s respectively (no mean feat, considering that the innings consists of 20 overs), while Lindsay performed the bowler’s equivalent, by taking a hat-trick against Grassy Park High. Ridah has played for the Western Province u/17 team, and is part of the regional structures at u/19 level. Blake has also been involved in the regional set-up, and will certainly push for a provincial place after his matric exams. Other valuable contributions to the team’s successes came from Jayde du Plessis, who took 4 wickets for
1 run against St Joseph’s, Abduragmaan Price, who made some good scores as an opener, and Saeed Agherdien, an off-spinner and workmanlike and steady middle-order batsman.

Unfortunately, the team says goodbye to Blake, Lindsay, Saeed, Robin Roberts and Joshua Heuvel, all of whom are in Grade 12. We wish them well in their future cricket careers.

Ridah, Blake and Lindsay