On paper, the Assupol TuksCricket team that will be competing in the Varsity Tournament in Potchefstroom from Monday might seem a bit inexperienced, but it will be a mistake to write them off.
Five of the players will be making their Varsity debut while the team again has got a new captain, the third since last year’s Varsity Tournament. Kruger van Wyk (head coach) is far from concerned. He, in fact, cannot wait for his team to go into “battle.”
The Assupol Tuks team’s first game is against the Central University of Technology (CUT).
Van Wyk has just reason to be confident because what his players may lack in experience they make up with a never say die attitude.
“Nothing scares them as they back themselves every time they take to the field. As far as they are concerned no game is won or lost until the last ball has been bowled.”
It should be no surprise. When he was playing for the Titans, and in New Zealand, Van Wyk built a reputation for himself off when the going gets tough the tough get going. Ever so often he was the one to save his team from defeat or to steer them to victory through gutsy batting performance or brilliant display as a wicketkeeper.
Van Wyk jokingly said that his team had become a victim of their success. It is the third time in less than three years that he has to rebuild a team.
Seven former Assupol Tuks players are currently playing for the Titans while half the Northerns Cricket team areTuks players and three are representing the South African under-19 team at the World Cup Tournament. Aiden Markram and Lungi Ngidi who respectively helped Tuks won the Varsity Tournament in 2015 and 2016 are starring for the Proteas.
“What I love being involved with Assupol TuksCricket is that as a coach you get to help young players fulfil their dreams. The fact that so many of our players go on to play provincial cricket and start to represent the various South African teams makes for an exciting challenge. We got to constantly identify new talented players and then guide them to bigger things. That is rewarding.”
Van Wyk said there are players in the team who has got the proverbial X-factor to swing the outcome of a game at any time.
“But we are not going to depend on a few individuals to win. We got 14 players in our squad, and they all got a role to play. I think more than ever before it will take a real team effort for us to get the result we want.”
Van Wyk made it clear that they are not going to worry about the playing conditions in Potchefstroom.
“I am satisfied with how we prepared for the tournament. I honestly can say that we left nothing to chance. From personal experience, I have learned that one can tend to overthink things at times or over coach players.”
North West-Pukke beat Assupol TuksCricket by four wickets in last year’s final. That was the only blemish on the Tuks team’s performance in 2017. They went on to win USSA Tournament as well as the Momentum National Club Championships.
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