Last game of the KFC Mini-Cricket Kids vs Proteas tour to decide the winner of the series

With the thrilling KFC Mini-Cricket Kids vs Proteas tour sitting on 3 wins each and one tie, it all comes down to the final match on the  10^th of March, taking place at Axxess St. Georges Park with Belinda Allie and her team becoming the final team to take on the Proteas while getting active on the field.

Having entered the competition to play against the Proteas more than 200 times, along with getting parents and kids from Malabar Primary to do the same, Belinda got the perfect birthday present on the 18^th of October 2013 by finding out that she had won the competition in her region.

Belinda is a KFC Mini-Cricket coordinator, looking after 48 schools in her region north of Port Elizabeth, Belinda has been involved in KFC Mini-Cricket for the past 25 years, starting as a coach and working her way up to her current position of regional coordinator.

Her experience and passion for the game has proved invaluable for Malabar Primary, where KFC Mini-Cricket is played by both boys and girls between the ages of 6-9 years old. Gearing up for this crucial final match of the series, with the two teams tied and desperate for outright glory, Belinda was faced with the task of selecting the final 8 players. She decided that she would choose the kids who put in the most effort in entering the competition to get the Proteas to come to their school for this final match.

The team will be made up of 3 girls and 5 boys and they have been having extra training sessions on Saturdays. As an added bonus leading up to the big game, these lucky youngsters will also be involved in the KFC T20 International at St George’s Park for the Proteas vs Australia game on the 9^th of March. The kids will participate as player escorts and ball boys and girls and meet their Proteas heroes on the pitch.

Speaking of the Proteas, Belinda’s favourite player is AB de Villiers; someone who she feels has had a direct influence on her life as the KFC Mini-Cricket ambassador. A stand out feature about AB for Belinda is that he teaches kids to be confident, and not arrogant, a trait that is embodied by most of the Proteas, including Hashim Amla, the kids’ favourite Proteas player.

With over 1000 pupils at Malabar Primary, the kids will have a group of supporter’s right from the start, something that will no doubt help them feel a little more confident going into this deciding match of the KFC Mini-Cricket Kids vs Proteas tour match.

Grey College Represent Knights In Coca-Cola® T20 Schools Challenge National Finals

The first school to qualify for the 2014 Coca-Cola® Schools T20 Challenge national finals is Bloemfontein’s Grey College, who beat their own 2^nd team in the Free State provincial final and then overcame the Griquas provincial champions, Hoërskool Noord-Kaap, in the Knights franchise final.

The Coca-Cola® T20 Schools Challenge is a national T20 knockout competition which began back in October last year, involving 650 schools.  The schools played in provincial competitions initially, with the eventual provincial winners meeting their counterparts in the various franchises – The Cobras, Warriors, Dolphins, Knights, Lions and Titans.

The tournament is fairly new, but it is already playing its part in Cricket South Africa’s talent identification pipeline. Quinton de Kock is the first Protea player to have played in the national finals – for King Edward II School and the Lions in 2010 and 2010 – and a number of players have gone on from here to play for the South African Schools and  Coca-Cola®  under-19 teams. They include the star of the 2014 ICC under-19 World Cup, Kagiso Rabada, who represented St Stithians College and the Lions in 2013.

The Free State final was an unusual affair – the first time that two teams from the same school have met in a final in this competition, which is testament to the depth of cricketing talent at the Bloemfontein school.

According to Andre Bester, master in charge of cricket at Grey and 1^st team coach, the boys thoroughly enjoyed playing against each other. “In fact, they were even more competitive knowing that they were playing against their school mates,” he said. “The atmosphere was great for the boys, the school and all those that attended the final.”

“However, for me as the 1^st team coach and the master in charge of cricket, it was very difficult because naturally I could not choose sides and wanted both to win. There was a lot of chirping on the field, and a great overall Grey College spirit,” said Bester. “Although it was inevitable that one of the teams had to win, it is still fantastic to know that both our 1^st and 2^nd teams are the best cricket sides in the Free State “

As Free State champions, Grey then went on to play Noord-Kaap, the winners of the Griquas region, to determine who the representative of the Knights franchise at the national finals would be.

The Bloemfontein side won quite comfortably (by 9 wickets) and is set to challenge their counterparts from around the country at the Coca-Cola® T20 Schools Challenge national finals in Pretoria next month.

As franchise champions, Grey College win R66 000 in prize money and, according to Bester, they are going to use it for cricket maintenance purposes: fixing the cricket nets, and buying some new equipment. This prize money could increase to R110 000 if the school emerges as the ultimate tournament winner.

Scores:

Provincial final – Grey I 167/2 (Frik de Beer 85 runs off 50 balls). Grey II 129/4. Grey I won by 38 runs.

Franchise final - Noord-Kaap 81 all out. Grey College 82/1. Grey won by 9 wickets.

Coca-Cola T20 challenge playoffs underway around the country

The Coca-Cola® T20 Schools cricket challenge enters its franchise playoff stage this week and when the process ends on 5^th March, the 6 schools that will represent their Cricket South Africa franchises at the national finals of the competition will be known. The national finals tournament will take place at the University of Pretoria’s LC De Villiers complex from 14^th to 16^th March.

The Coca-Cola® T20 Schools Challenge is a mass participation tournament. The process began in October last year when over 10 000 players from over 650 schools started their journey to become the school to represent their franchise and ultimately be crowned the 2014 winner of the competition.

Some clarity has emerged as to who the contenders are, although rain has affected the finals in some provinces.

In the Dolphin Franchise, Hilton College are the KwaZulu-Natal Inland champions, having beaten Michaelhouse in the final, their opponents in the franchise final on 5^th March will be Westville Boys’ High who beat Northwood in the KZN Coastal final.

The Titans franchise is a challenging one, involving four provinces: Northern, Easterns, Limpopo and Mpumalanga. It has emerged that last year’s franchise champions, Hoërskool Waterkloof are the Northerns champions and have beaten the Limpopo Champions, Pietersburg Hoërskool to get to the Titans franchise finals.  Hoërskool Waterkloof will now face EG Jansen, the winners of Easterns province, who beat the Mpumalanga champions Uplands College, to get to the Titans Franchise. This Final will take place on March 5^th.

The Gauteng champions are Johannesburg’s St Stithians College who recently beat St John’s in the Johnny Waite Knockout (the Gauteng final). St Stithians met the Northwest champions, Potchefstroom Gymnasium, in the Lions franchise finals this weekend and emerged victorious. St Stithians will now be representing the Lions in the national finals at the University of Pretoria in two weeks time.

Last year’s Knights champions, St Andrew’s School have been eliminated and Grey College have emerged as this franchise winner.

The Cobras franchise final will feature Paul Roos Gymnasium, the Boland winners, against the Western Cape winners, Wynberg Boys’ High, who contest their final this week.

Still in the running to be crowned Warriors champions are East London’s Selborne College, the Border provincial champions, who will meet the Eastern province winners, Kingswood College, on the 4^th March.

The Coca-Cola® T20 Schools Challenge has produced its first full international player in Quinton De Kock, who was selected for the Proteas Test team against Australia last week. De Kock played for King Edward VII School in the 2010 and 2011 Coca-Cola® T20 Schools Challenges.

Laerskool Fleur gears up to take on the Proteas!

Winston Phahlane is the latest winner in the KFC Mini-Cricket Kids vs Proteas Tour competition. This will be the 6^th match in the hugely exciting KFC Mini-Cricket Kids vs Proteas Tour will taking place in Pretoria, on Monday the 20^th of January.

Winston entered on behalf of his friend Ntshidiseng Malau, Ntshidiseng’s son, Kagiso and his schools friends will now have, the opportunity to take on the Proteas.

Going into this match the Proteas are the leaders of this tour.. The five matches played so far have resulted in three wins for the Proteas, one for the KFC Mini-Cricket Kids, with the last match between the two sides ending in a tie. Highlights of all the games can be found at www.kfcminicricket.co.za.

Winston often helps single mother Ntshidiseng with giving nine year old Kagiso a lift to and from cricket matches, as she does not have a car. He says that sport is a platform that brings people together, and is also a firm believer that we can continue uniting the country by supporting grassroots sports initiatives like KFC Mini-Cricket. Supporting young Kagiso in getting active and following his dreams is something that is close to his heart.

Both Ntshidiseng and Katlego are huge cricket fans. While mom is very fond of senior Proteas players Jacques Kallis, Graeme Smith and Hashim Amla, Kagiso favours the rising Proteas star Quinton de Kock, who is lighting up the international cricket scene right now.

Kagiso really admires Quinton’s talent and flair, and recently got to get a little closer to his favourite player and other international stars as a ball boy during an international match between the Proteas and Pakistan at Supersport Park Centurion. KFC Mini-Cricket kids countrywide during the KFC T20 Internationals get the opportunity to participate as player escorts, ball boys and even as representatives at the official coin toss.

Kagiso and his mom really enjoy watching cricket at Supersport Park, but to escort one of the Pakistani players onto the field as he did recently, gave him the chance to dream big and see what it is like to be a part of the international stage. Ntshidiseng encourages Kagiso to believe in his dreams and to work hard towards them, and competing against the Proteas, many of whom started their cricketing careers in KFC Mini-Cricket, will go a long way in encouraging him further.

The Proteas team consisting of, Kagiso’s favourite player, Quinton de Kock and fellow team mates Aaron Phangiso, Farhaan Behardien and Chris Morris will no doubt be looking to wrap up the KFC Mini-Cricket vs Proteas tour with a win against Laerskool Fleur, but with huge home team support expected in the form of fellow students and parents; this will of course be no foregone conclusion.

Ntshidiseng is taking the day off work, and together with Winston they will be eagerly watching Kagiso shine and enjoy the opportunity of getting active in this once in a lifetime match.

Heroes being made at Coca-Cola® T20 Schools Challenge

Over 11 000 cricketers from over 700 schools are currently in action to determine who will represent their respective provinces at the Coca-Cola® T20 Schools Challenge national week taking place in March 2014.

While it is still in its infancy, the Coca-Cola® T20 Schools challenge, run under the auspices of Cricket South Africa (CSA), is already starting to assume its place in South Africa’s talent identification chain and becoming recognised as a place where heroes are made.

The first Protea to compete in the tournament was Quinton de Kock, who played for King Edward School (KES) in 2010 and 2011 and has gone on to make the national side. 

Stellenbosh hosted the 2012 finals with Rondebosch Boys’ High School, representing the Nashua Mobile Cape Cobras, beating The Unlimited Titans representative, Hoërskool Waterkloof, in the final match to be crowned as champions. The game was played as a curtain-raiser to a Ram Slam T20 match played at Sahara Park Newlands, Cape Town.

Four players who competed in Stellenbosch were members of the SA under-19 team that played in the quadrangular series against India, Australia and Zimbabwe in India in September. Two of them – Dayaan Galiem and Hayes Van der Berg – were part of the victorious Rondebosch Boys’ High team, and they were joined by Sine Ntshona of St Andrew’s and St Stithians’ Kagiso Rabada.

Many of the top players from the Coca-Cola® T20 Schools Challenge are recruited into the provincial side to compete in the annual Coca-Cola® Khaya Majola Cricket Week.

“Coca-Cola® South Africa has sponsored the Coca-Cola® Khaya Majola Cricket Week for over 30 years and in that time over 200 players have gone on to play for the Proteas,” said Fetsi Mbele, IMC Marketing Assets Manager, Coca-Cola® South Africa. “With the inclusion of the Coca-Cola® T20 Schools Challenge we are not only helping to identify heroes but also encouraging teens to be physically active.”

The format sees each of the 16 Cricket South Africa (CSA) unions stage their own tournaments to identify their provincial champions. A play-off between other provincial champions within their regions will determine which school will represent each of the six franchises in the national finals tournament.

CSA General Manager: Cricket, Corrie van Zyl, commented: “Accessibility to the game of cricket and getting an opportunity to showcase your talent in the pursuit of achieving the ultimate honour of representing the Proteas is the dream of every schoolboy in South Africa. The Coca-Cola T20 Schools challenge is an event that makes this achievable for every cricket-playing school team and consequently for each player representing his school.

“With the Coca-Cola Khaya Majola Week being the pinnacle of the schools cricket pipeline and, therefore, the springboard for selection to higher honours, the T20 Schools Challenge provides the opportunity to a wider range of players involved to impress at a higher level of competition.”