Oppenheimer Week delight

THE weather forecast suggests sunny days (every schoolboy cricketer’s dream!) for the duration of Maritzburg College’s Oppenheimer Cricket Week, which takes place from Saturday to next Tuesday, and both participants and supporters are in for an absolute feast of everything that is good about the game.

The matches to be played by the 18 teams take place in Pietermaritzburg as well as Richmond and Eston, and sees top cricket schools in action with the Gauteng contingent featuring the Johannesburg quartet King Edward VII School (KES), St Johns College, St Davids Marist, Inanda and Jeppe, as well as the Pretoria trio of St Albans College, Pretoria Boys’ High (PBHS) and Afrikaanse Hoër Seunskool (Affies). Of great interest is the inclusion this year of Westlake Boys’ High of New Zealand.

The teams from the Eastern Cape are Hudson Park of East London and St Andrews College of Grahamstown while those from KZN are Maritzburg College, St Charles College, Michaelhouse, Durban High School (DHS), Kearsney College, Glenwood, Northwood and a KZN Development XI.

Now in its 55th year, and hosted as always by Maritzburg College, this festival has players to watch out for in SA U19 cricketers Andile Phehlukwayo (Glenwood), Grant Roelofsen (KES), Ndumiso Mvelase (St Johns) and Lwandiswa Zuma (Maritzburg College), while other players with much talent in the College line-up include Sohail Mahmoud, captain Bryce Tullis, James Martin, Bradley Hope, David Small, Shaun Wormington and all-rounder Jean de Wet.

St Charles College, who won’t be at full-strength each day due to exams, have much quality that includes captain Brent Kennedy and fellow top four batters Eric de Rauville, Zac Koutsouris and Mark Ortmann while opening bowlers William Squires, who took five wickets against Northwood two Saturdays ago, and the highly promising Kylan Naidoo are sure to trouble their opponents’ top-order.

For those wanting to pop in for an hour or two to watch their favourite school team, please note the hours of play – Session 1: 9h30 to 11h00; Morning tea: 11h00 to 11h15; Session 2: 11h15 to 12h45; Lunch: 12h45 to 13h45; Session 3: 13h45 to 15h15; Afternoon tea: 15h15 to 15h30; Session 4: 15h30 to end of prescribed overs.

All the fixtures:

Saturday (50-over): DHS vs King Edward VII School (Eston), Glenwood vs Pretoria Boys’ High School (Richmond), Kearsney vs St Davids Marist, Inanda (Collegians), KZN Development XI vs St Albans (PMB Oval), Maritzburg College vs Affies (Goldstones), Michaelhouse vs St Andrews, Grahamstown (Barns), Northwood vs St Johns (Varsity Oval), St Charles College vs Hudson Park (St Charles Oval), Westlake vs Jeppe (Varsity 2).

Sunday (50-over): DHS vs Affies (Collegians), Glenwood vs St Johns (Varsity 2), Kearsney vs KES (Varsity Oval), KZN Development XI vs Hudson Park (Barns), Maritzburg College vs Jeppe (Goldstones), Michaelhouse vs St Davids (Eston), Northwood vs St Andrews (Pmb Oval), St Charles College vs St Albans (Richmond), Westlake vs PBHS (St Charles Oval).
Monday (50-over): DHS vs St Andrews (Varsity 2), Glenwood vs KES (Collegians), Kearsney vs St Johns (Eston), KZN Development XI vs Jeppe (Pmb Oval), Maritzburg College vs Hudson Park (Goldstones), Michaelhouse vs St Albans (Varsity Oval), Northwood vs PBHS (Barns), St Charles College vs St Davids (St Charles Oval), Westlake vs Affies (Richmond).

Tuesday (T20): DHS vs St Johns (Goldstones), Glenwood vs Hudson Park (Eston), Kearsney vs Affies (Barns), KZN Development XI vs PBHS (Collegians), Maritzburg College vs St Andrews (Richmond), Michaelhouse vs KES (Pmb Oval), Northwood vs St Albans (Varsity 2), St Charles College vs Jeppe (St Charles Oval), Westlake vs St Davids (Varsity Oval).