The occasion was the annual “Captains’ Dinner”, a traditional at the Coca-Cola Khaya Majola Week that exposes the team leaders to the thinking of captains of professional teams, and which allows them the space and time to relax together, and get to know each other a bit better off the field. To start the players were given some inside information on the wicket and how it is prepared by the Newlands groundsman, Evan Flint. Then it was off to the locker room where they met Cape Cobras captain Justin Kemp and current batting sensation Richard Levi, who played in the 2003 and 2004 Coca-Cola Khaya Majola Weeks, making SA schools on both occasions. The captains spent close to an hour with Kemp and Levi and the key topic of discussion was life of a professional cricketer and what it takes to cross over from schools to first class cricket. Hard work, focus and keeping your end goal in sight, was the reply. Then it was off to the Newlands President’s Suite where Western Province Cricket Chief Executive and eminent cricket historian, Professor Andre Odendaal, addressed them. He told the captains that being a good leader of cricketers also involved an understanding and appreciation of the history and ethos of the game. He then went on to tell them a little about the background of the game in this country, and around the world, and how cricket was taken into the former British Empire by soldiers stationed abroad. An interesting statistic Odendaal related was that between 1889 and 1990 there were 24 International Tests played at Newlands of which South Africa only won three. After transformation, there have been 23 International Tests of which South Africa has won 15. Odendaal also urged the captains to get to know each other, reminding them that life is a journey and those you meet along the way must be treasured. It is not the win that is important but the journey getting there. Boland captain Jean Bredenkamp said that walking around Newlands increased his desire to become part of the cricketing setup in Western Province. “There’s no question that I hope to play for Province and the Cobras in the years to come and seeing the inside of Newlands has only made me more determined,” he said. For Northerns captain Murray Coetzee, coming to Newlands was a new experience. “I always dreamed, while watching matches there on TV, of one day being on that field and I have now experienced that,” he said. “My aim now is to come back, next time to actually play here.” KwaZulu-Natal captain Prenelan Subrayen said sitting with the other captains at the dinner table was a special experience. “Most of us have played with and against each other in the past, but this was a chance to speak to each other in a relaxed atmosphere. We will still be fierce rivals when we meet on the field again, but we will be better friends once the game is over.”  |
| Captains Dinner. Justin Kemp Meets the Northerns Captain Murray |
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| Captains Dinner Team |
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| Richard Levi and Justin Kemp Talk to the Captains |
