ICC announces expansion of global events

 The ICC Board today confirmed the schedule of ICC events from 2024- 2031 with both the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup and ICC Men’s T20 World Cup to be expanded and a Men’s Champions Trophy to be re-introduced.

The ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup will become a 14 team, 54 match event in 2027 and 2031, whilst the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup will be expanded to a 20 team, 55 match event in 2024, 2026, 2028 and 2030. An eight team Champions Trophy will be hosted in 2025 and 2029. ICC World Test Championship Finals will be hosted in 2025, 2027, 2029 and 2031. The ICC Women’s event schedule has already been confirmed with the expansion of both the Cricket World Cup and T20 World Cup forming part of the ICC’s long-term commitment to growing the women’s game. 

The ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup format will have two groups of seven, with the top three in each group progressing to a Super Six stage, followed by semi-finals and final. This is the same format that was used in the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2003. The format of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup will consist of four groups of five, with the top two from each group going through to a Super Eights stage, followed by the knockout stages of semi-finals and a final. The Champions Trophy will follow previous editions with two groups of four, semi-finals and final. 

The ICC Board also approved the process for determining the hosts for all Men’s, Women’s and U19 events in the next cycle. The hosts for the Men’s events will be decided in September following a selection process that will get underway this month. The hosting process for Women’s and U19 events will commence in November and will be an opportunity to engage with a wider range of Members including first-time hosts. 

The ICC Board has requested management focus its planning efforts for the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2021 on the event being staged in the UAE with the possibility of including another venue in the Middle East. A final decision on the host country will be taken later this month. The Board also confirmed that the BCCI will remain the hosts of the event regardless of where the event is played.  

ICC Acting Chief Executive Geoff Allardice said: “Having the ICC event schedule confirmed through to 2031 is a significant step forward for cricket and will form the basis of our growth strategy for the next decade. 

“The revised approach to selecting hosts for our events will give us much more flexibility to grow the game and engage new fans. There is a smaller pool of countries with the infrastructure needed to host our senior Men’s events which narrows the selection process. Additionally, many of our Members expressed interest in hosting Women’s and U19 events which gives us a great opportunity to stage events in established and emerging cricket nations.”

The SA U19 duo leading by example at the Khaya Majola Week

Those running the youth structures at Cricket South Africa’s are understandably focussing on the upcoming ICC Under-19 Cricket World Cup, and the Khaya Majola Week on the go in the KZN Midlands at the moment is being used strategically as part of their preparations for that tournament.

There have been one or two players who are in the SA under-19 team who are carrying minor injuries and have been withdrawn as a precaution, but for the others, this is an opportunity to spend time at the crease and to get some overs under their belts in a competitive situation.

Ten members of the SA U-19 squad are here. We spoke to two of them who have, on the first two days of the week, shown that they are a cut above their peers and that the hard work they have been doing at the national training camp has paid off.

Odirile Modimokoane, a spin bowler from Northwest, is one of those. This is his 3^rd Khaya Majola Week and he has taken 9 wickets in the two games so far. “The week has gone well and I have learned a lot of things with my bowling,” he said. “This year is different from the rest because I have learned a lot especially from the SA U-19 camp that we had in December. After I was chosen for the SA U-19 team I decided to play one tournament at a time so I want to focus just on my bowing at this tournament and make sure that I get a lot of overs in to keep fit.”

Lawrence Mahatlane, the SA U-19 coach told him to keep working on his bowling, but to make sure that he also has fun. “Enjoyment plays a huge part in my cricket, so that suits me,” he said. “I have learned from the SA U-19 coaches how to play with my speed and the lines that I bowl. This has helped me a lot because when I bowled slightly slower the ball stayed low but when I speeded up my bowling I got some bounce. I need to mix it up so that I can surprise the batsmen and take wickets.”

The Northwest coaches at the Khaya Majola week have also been a great help. “They helped me with setting up different fields to suit my bowling,” he said. “This week changed my life, It’s my 3rd time and it was here that I was first recognised, and now I have a possible future in cricket. Cricket has given me opportunities to have a career in the sport and that all started at the week.

Levert Manje is a batsman in the Central Gauteng Lions team. He said it is a privilege to make the team and represent his province, and it’s even more of an honour to play for his country at the World Cup.

“I need to make the most of the week,” he said. “It means a lot to me to see our senior provincial coach at the Lions, Sandile Masengemi, take time out of his schedule to come to the week and watch us play. It shows you how important this tournament is.

“My focus is to stay in the moment and not let my position in the under-19 team go to my head, there is a lot of work that I need to do, so I cannot get over confident. “I was disappointed not to play in the Khaya Majola Cricket Week last year, but that taught me not to take anything for granted. I am going to play hard in the week and do as well as I can because it means so much to me. The Khaya Majola Cricket Week is great preparation for the World Cup. I am playing at a high level and I need to work hard to get my confidence up.”

Under-19 coach Lawrence Mahatlane speaks to him often and helps him a lot, Levert said. “He told me to bat for long periods of time and to stay in the now. What I took from that is that I need to be more mature as a batsman and I need to read the various situations that I face and bat accordingly.”

Central Gauteng Lions under-19 coach Siyabonga Sibiya, who is also an assistant coach with the SA U-19 team, is a hard task master but there is a method to what he is trying to do. Levert said. “I understand it I am really appreciative of what he is trying to do.”

Levert has already hit over 130 runs in his two matches so far, with four more to go and is clearly one player to watch at this Khaya Majola Week.

Danone Southern Africa and the South African Schools Football Association (SASFA) announce Dobsonville Stadium in Soweto as the host of the 2018 under-12 Danone Nations Cup national soccer finals

On the 15^th September the national finals of the under-12 Danone Nations Cup soccer tournament will take place in Gauteng, the site of the Danone’s head office and factory, with Soweto’s Dobsonville Stadium as the host venue.

Eight of the nine provincial winning schools have been identified with Gauteng being the final province to host their finals taking place on the 25^th August.

Chantel Ehlers, Danone Internal Communications Manager explained that the nationals have been at Reiger Park for a number of years now, and they felt it was time to make a change.  “Reiger Park has been the national final venue for the past 4 years and we felt it was time to take our finals to Soweto, the biggest township in Southern Africa.”

Danone’s mission is to encourage the youth to believe in their dreams and to encourage the development of healthy eating habits.  “It is a privilege for Danone to be involved with this event,” said Ehlers.  “And we are spreading our message of health through food to as many people as possible through this event.  We want to positively impact the health of South Africans through diet and exercise and this year we will be doing that to as many Sowetans as possible.”

Every year Danone invites their staff from the factory and head office to the event to be part of all the activities and give them the opportunity to see the enormous talent in South Africa at the under-12 level.

There is a festive atmosphere at the event. In addition to the soccer, there are fun activities on the adjacent fields including soccer games, kid’s games, face painting, jumping castles and many more and all this for free as there is no entry charge.

All of Danone’s brands are derived from dairy products, which are a good source of calcium, protein and various vitamins and minerals which lead to good health, Ehlers explains. “Our brands all come on board for national finals day and, for example, NutriDay runs a fun game targeting the youth that teaches them about food categories and how to blend foods to better your health.”

The school that wins the national title will represent SA at the world finals to take place in Spain in 2019.

The schools that have qualified so far are:

NORTHERN CAPE	Lutzburg Intermediate School
FREE STATE	Tshediso Xolani Primary School
LIMPOPO	Benny's Sports Academy & Development
MPUMANLANGA	Shapeve Primary School
NORTH WEST	Laerskool Rustenburg Noord
KZN	Muzuvukile Primary School
EASTERN CAPE	Charles Morgan Primary School
WESTERN CAPE	Nomlinganiselo Primary School
GAUTENG

The Nine Provincial Winners of the Danone Nations Cup will gather in Gauteng for the National Finals

 

The long sifting process is over and the nine schools that will be competing for the national title in the Danone Nations Cup competition have been identified.

They will gather at the WJ Clements Stadium in Reiger Park, Boksburg on Saturday June 25^th for the tournament’s national finals day (kickoff 9.30am).

The teams have come through local, regional and provincial elimination stages and are now playing for the big prize: the chance to represent South Africa at the Danone Nations Cup world finals in France in October.

Danone and the sponsorship partners, Mille, have laid on quite a day, with plenty of fun activities on the adjacent fields to entertain the public, and free NutriDay yoghurt, Yogi Sip, Mayo and UltraMel for everyone who attends.

Entrance to the stadium is free

Of the nine competing schools only one – Eastern Cape champions, Barkerville, the 2012 national champions – have won the title before, and most of them have never competed in the nationals before.

So, predicting who will win is not easy.

Nancy Shiba Primary School, representing Mpumalanga, are in the tournament for only the second time. Their coach, Andile Moloto, says that since they won their provincial title he has been approached by a community member who is involved in soccer development to assist as a mentor and technical coach, and he has also received calls from both Pirates and Sundowns, wanting to come and look at his team. 

Training is going well at the school, although exams have put a stop to the extra training which they wanted to do.

Moloto believes passing the ball effectively and executing in front of goal are essential, so those are the things he is concentrating on with the team.

Musa Memela, coach of KZN champions, Mthethomusha Primary School, said their preparations are a bit slow at the moment due to the mid-year exams, but they have been playing friendlies against local club teams.

He has been following the other schools they will be playing against on Facebook, so knows who his competition will be and he feels confident they will do well.

“We are focussing on score quickly as the games are only 20 minutes long and this doesn’t give much time. Attack is key in such short games,” he said.

Mthethomusha striker, Qiniso Ngubane, will be a key player, the coach said. “He has the speed and ability to score. He is a bit too emotional but he is also a great motivator, and has plenty of experience.”

Witsieshoek Primary will be representing the Free Sate and their manager, Zwelibanzi Zimu, said preparations are going very well.

“We have had great support from the district director of education who has arranged a district tournament to help get the boys used to playing competitively,” he said.

They have also had assessments from the Charles Mopeli High Performance centre, and attended training sessions there.

Zimu has been impressed with striker, Reabetswe Moloi. “He is an ambitious player, he is a quick learner and has improved greatly.”

The last school to win a place in the nationals was Benny’s Sports and Development Academy.  They will be representing Limpopo at the nationals and will be the only Academy in action on Saturday. 

Their coach, Mbishi Mokoena said, after winning their provincial final this week that their build up will focus on getting the kids used to playing on grass as all their fields are sand. 

“The boys did not play well in their first provincial final game as they were playing on grass, which they rarely get the opportunity to play on.” He said. “ I could see they were slipping and they were not used to the way the ball bounced and how unpredictable it was. It also affected their confidence; however they did come back and win.  The nationals will be on grass and they need a bit more practice as this level is very tough and we know that we will be facing still opposition.”

The participating schools are:

Eastern Cape - Bakerville Junior Secondary School, Mt Frere

Free State - Witsieshoek Primary, Phuthadithjaba

Gauteng - St Joseph's Kulani Primary, Winterveldt

KZN - Mthethomusha Primary, Edendale

North West - BM Mokitime Primary, Mafikeng

Western Cape - St Helena Bay Primary, St Helena Bay

Mpumalanga - Nancy Shiba Primary, Emalahleni

Northern Cape - Van Rensburg Primary, Britstown

Limpopo – Benny’s Sports Development & Academy, Vhembe

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