Yaseen Valli to lead the 2013 SA Schools team

Cricket South Africa (CSA) on Friday, announced the South Africa Schools side to be lead by King Edward VII’s (KES) Yaseen Valli at the closing function of the Coca-Cola Khaya Majola Week at Kearsney College in Durban. The side includes no less than eight players of colour, which was more than the target set to convenor Linda Zondi and his selection panel.

Zondi is satisfied that the best players in the tournament were selected for both the SA Schools and SA Colts sides. He said: “What’s important is to see the diversity of the team and the talent that we have in South Africa. This shows that CSA is in a good space and cricket is in a healthy space and can produce quality players that can go on to be selected for franchise and national teams.”

For the first time since 1994, KES has produced a South Africa Schools' captain in Valli. Neil McKenzie was the last old boy to captain the schools’ side and before him, the previous captain produced by KES was Lee Barnard, who captained the side twice in 1973 and 1974.

Valli is proud to be selected for the SA Schools side and is honoured to be trusted with the captaincy job.

“It’s a massive honour for me to be chosen to captain the side,” he said. “This is the perfect opportunity for me to test my skills against better guys, I’m really chuffed for this opportunity.”

Valli lead Gauteng to a thrilling, two-wicket victory over Western Province in the final of the tournament. He is impressed with the way his side took on their formidable opponent, fighting to the end to produce the win.

“We knew we wouldn’t get as many opportunities as we would like with all the rain, but the guys really looked after themselves well and were mentally prepared and in the end we were able to pull off a really good win,” he continued.

Three players from Rondebosch Boys' High in Cape Town made the SA Schools' side. The trio include Dayyaan Galiem, Matthew Christensen and Zubayr Hamza.

Next year's Coca-Cola Khaya Majola Week will be hosted by Pretoria. 

South African Schools XI:

Yaseen Valli (King Edward VII, Gauteng - Captain), Bradley Bopp (Grey Boys' High School, Eastern Province), Driaan Bruwer (Affies, Northerns), Matthew Christensen (Rondebosch Boys' High, Western Province), Clyde Fortuin (St. Joseph's College, Western Province), Dayyaan Galiem (Rondebosh Boys' High, Western Province, Zubayr Hamza (Rondebosch Boys' High, Western Province), Andile Phehlukwayo (Glenwood, KwaZulu-Natal), Kagiso Rabada (St. Stithian's College, Gauteng), Ngazibini Sigwili (Hudson Park, Border), Keith Dudgeon (Parktown Boys' High, Gauteng - 12th man).

SA Colts:

GM Bruwer (Noord-Kaap, Griqualand West - Captain), Daniël Griesel (HTS Middelburg, Mpumalanga), Wickus Germishuizen (Hugenote, Easterns), Sohail Mahmood (Maritzburg College, KwaZulu-Natal Inland), Mbulelo Mama (St. Andrew's College, Eastern Province), Richard Maree (York High, South Western Districts), Dustin Melton (Pretoria Boys' High, Northerns), Paballo Mogoera (Louis Botha, Free State), Rivaldo Moonsamy (St. Alban's College, Northerns), Jason Oakes (Westville Boys' High, KwaZulu-Natal), Jay Stevens (Rondebosch Boys' High, Western Province), Sithembele Langa (Sakhisizwe, Border – 12th man).

Awards:

Highest Run Scorer of the Week:

Grant Roelofsen (King Edward VII – Gauteng)

Highest Wicket taker of the Week:

Richard Maree (York High – South Western Districts)

Catch of the Week:

Clyde Fortuin (St. Joseph’s College – Western Province)

Spirit of the Week:

The Border team

All-rounder of the Week:

Bradley Bopp

Cricketer of the Week:

Clyde Fortuin (St. Joseph’s College – Western Province)

Summarised Scorecards of Day 5 (Limited Overs):

Western Province 250/7 (Kegan Wheeler 62*, Jean Strydom 45, Zubayr Hamza 41; Kagiso Rabada 2/30); Gauteng 254/8 (Grant Roelofsen 63, Jayden Broodryk 38*, Kagisa Rabada 35*; Dayyaan Galiem 2/41). Gauteng won by two wickets. 

Eastern Province 254 (Bradley Bopp 101, Lyle Petersen 35; Aphiwe Elembi 4/75); Border 141 (Aubrey Ferreira 32; Bradley Bopp 3/10). Eastern Province won by 113 runs.

KwaZulu-Natal 223/8 (Jason Oakes 75, Mekhalin Naidoo 33); Northerns 227/4 (Danie Rossouw 107*, Driaan Bruwer 44*). Northerns won by six wickets.

Easterns 219 (Wickus Germishuizen 73, Jurie Snyman 43, Reder van Rooyen 33); Mpumalanga 126 (Extras 31; Tumelo Simelane 4/15). Easterns won by 93 runs.

Namibia 158/9 (Gerhard Erasmus 46, Malan Kruger 44; Niel Botha 3/28); Boland 142 (Niel Botha 58; Bredell Wessels 4/14, Tiaan Snyman 3/28). Namibia won by 16 runs.

Free State 219/3 (Hanco Olivier 91*, Sine Ntshona 46*, Ryan du Plessis 36); Griqualand West 167/8 (Maghiel Brits 43, Patrick Kruger 39*; Lyle Heilbron 3/34). Free State won by 52 runs.

South Western Districts 117 (Arno Moolman 19; Eddy Human 4/29); Limpopo 37 (Richard Maree 6/28, Lance Roelfse 3/8). South Western Districts won by 80 runs.

North West 87 (Greg Oldfield 4/22, Nick Elliot 2/9); KwaZulu-Natal Inland 88/4 (Greg Oldfield 33, Hendrik Weyers 4/20). KwaZulu-Natal Inland won by six wickets.

ENDS

NOTES:

Video highlight packages of Day 5 of the Coca-Cola Khaya Majola Week and audio clips featuring Linda Zondi and Yaseen Valli can be found on the FTP site below

http://cricketsa.businesscatalyst.com

Gauteng beat Western Province in the thrilling main game of the Coca-Cola Khaya Majola Cricket Week

Gauteng turned around their misfortune of last year’s Coca-Cola Khaya Majola Week, where they lost to Western Province in the unofficial final, by beating them by two wickets this time around.

The game was a thriller. Province made 250 runs and then had Gauteng in all sorts of trouble, at 189/8. Lower order batsmen Jayden Broodryk and Kagiso Rabada then came together and produced a dramatic 53-run unbeaten stand to reach the target with seven balls to spare.

Broodryk was 38 not out in the end, off 25 balls and Rabada 35 not out off 17 balls, which included one four and four sixes. Rabada brought the proceedings to a close with a mighty six.

Grant Roelofsen laid the foundation for Gauteng with a solid 63. He has scored runs in all his innings in the week and totalled 226, at an average of 56.5 to be the top scorer of the tournament.

The win meant that Gauteng were one of just two teams two come out of the week unbeaten, along with Namibia.

There were two hundred on the final day. Eastern Province’s Bradley Bopp made 101, off 104 balls, with 13 fours and four sixes in his side’s win over Border, and Danie Rossouw was 107 not out for Northerns, off 150 balls, with 11 fours and one six against KwaZulu-Natal.

The best bowling figures of the final day came from SWD’s Richard Maree, who took 6/28 against Limpopo. Maree was the top wicket-taker at the week, with 16.

Scorecards

Eastern Province vs Border

Eastern Province 254 (Bopp 101, Petersen 35, Elembi 4/75, Langa 3/30) Border 141 (Ferreira 32, Bopp 3/10) Eastern Province won by 113 runs

Easterns vs Mpumalanga

Easterns 219 (Germishuizen 73, Snyman 43, Corlenius 2/25) Mpumalanga 126 (Simelane 4/15, Mkhondwane 2/18) Easterns won by 93 runs

Free State vs Griqualand West

Free State 219/ 3 (Olivier 91*, Ntshona 46*, du Plessis 36) Griqualand West 167 (Brits 43, Kruger 39*, Heilbron 3/34) Free State won by 52 runs

North West vs KZN Inland

North West 87 (Oldfield 4/22, Elliot 2/9) KZN Inland 88/4 (Oldfield 33*, van Wymeersch 28, Weyers 4/20) KZN Inland won by 6 wickets

KZN vs Northerns

KZN 223/8 (Oakes 75, Naidoo 33, Melton 2/59) Northerns 227/4 (Rossouw 107*, Bruwer 44*, Phehlukwayo 2/2/33) Northerns won by 6 wickets

SWD vs Limpopo

SWD 117 (Human 4/29, Apea-Abu 2/22) Limpopo 37 (Maree 2/28, Roelfse 3/8) SWD won by 80 runs

Namibia vs Boland

Namibia 158 (Kruger 44, Erasmus 46, Botha 3/28) Boland 142 (Botha 58, Wessells 4/14, Snyman 3/28) Namibia won by 16 runs

Western Province vs Gauteng

Western Province 250/7 (Wheeler 62*, Strydom 45, Hamaza 41, Rabada 2/30, Dudgeon 2/53) Gauteng 254/8 (Roelofsen 63, Broodryk 38*, Rabada 35*, Galiem 2/41, Mona 2/55) Gauteng won by 2 wickets with 7 balls to spare

PROTEA’S, AB DE VILLIERS SQUARES UP AGAINST SA UNDER-19 ALL-ROUNDER, YASEEN VALLI TO PROVE THE VALUE OF THE POWERADE® PERFORMANCE SESSIONS

Powerade, chosen by Cricket South Africa to hydrate the Proteas, ran Powerade Performance Sessions at approximately 70 high schools in Gauteng and the Western Cape in October and November 2012, and then pitted a Proteas player against an Under-19 school cricketer to demonstrate the importance of conditioning at International level.

The Powerade Performance Sessions were designed by Proteas’ Strength and Conditioning coach, Rob Walter, who has over 11 years of experience in training elite athletes. Through these sessions Powerade® sought to integrate the link between high performance, biokinetics, sports science, nutrition and hydration. All the exercises targeted the specific movement patterns that players would encounter on the field of play.

The best way to demonstrate the value of the Powerade® Performance Sessions was to square up a Proteas player against an under 19 cricketer.

In the batting category Walter matched batsman AB de Villiers and SA Colts and Under-19 cricketer, Yaseen Valli.

Walter explained that the three fundamental skills in batting were reaction time, speed and foot movement. He designed three tests to measure these aspects and ran the cricketers through them.

First up was reaction time. The players had to touch random flashing lights on an activity board. Valli was able to touch the target 25 times in 30 seconds, while De Villiers scored 28 in the time period.

When it comes to batting there are two aspects to speed – running between the wickets and turning at the end of each run.

AB de Villiers recorded a turn time of 4.09 seconds and a total time of 9.14 seconds for the two runs measured. Valli’s times were 4.47 seconds for the turn and 9.92 in total.

Foot movement, Walter says, is essential for skills execution in batting and the exercise used involved the batsman using his feet and shape his body to get himself into position to hit the ball through a particular target area.

De Villiers was able to hit the ball through the allocated target 16 out of 20 times, while Valli’s score was 12 out of 20.

De Villiers said that the Powerade® Performance Sessions exercises definitely help his game. “Reaction time, footwork and speed is what it’s all about.”

Walter said the exercises showed that these skills are absolutely essential to performing at the elite level. “Today AB de Villiers gave us an illustration as to why he is one of the best in the world,” he said.

“Powerade® is the chosen sport drink of many of South Africa’s sports stars,” explains Craig van Niekerk, Marketing Assets Manager of Coca-Cola South Africa.  “But effective conditioning is a combination of many factors and through the Powerade® Performance Sessions we want the players to continue to develop, become more functional and continue to challenge themselves so that they continue growing and improving their cricket skills.”