As most of the Academy group are aspiring to play Premier League cricket and higher, this would be a perfect platform to test them against top players ad see where they are in terms of pre-season development.

The first match took place at PHSOB with Old Boys winning the toss and asking the Academy to bat first. The openers got off to a good start with the first wicket falling with the score on 30. After that wickets seemed to fall at regular intervals which hampered the Academy from pushing on to a big score.

The one shining light in the batting order was Brandon le Roux who made a stylish 55 not out ably supported by a quick fire innings of 30 off 23 by Kyle Jarvis. Those two innings saw the Academy post a moderate yet defendable total of 180 in 45 over’s.

The wicket was starting to stay low on the one end and we knew that if we could get their experienced batters out early, we could get stuck into some of the younger pups and put them under pressure.
PHSOB seemed to be cruising to victory with the score on 91/1. The spinners, in particular Jan Bothma, then turned the game on its head. Having removed Maurice Aronstam after drinks with a slider, Old Boys capitulated to 150 all out. Henk Coetzee was also a thorn in the side Old Boys picking up vital wickets in the latter part of the innings.

The fielding effort of the Academy side was something to behold, and the character showed to pull the game back from that position is heartening to see, as one can not coach that and can only be achieved through match practise. The experience that was picked up by the boys is invaluable and bodes us (TUKS) well for the future. This undoubtedly is our biggest win ever for the Academy right up there with the victory against World Cup Qualifiers Kenya.

• The second match was played on our home turf here at Tuks. This time around the Academy won the toss and decided to bat first. Having played a lot of games down on the Tuks B and C fields, we knew that a score of 180 would again be defendable.

This score was always within our reach during our innings, but unlike on Saturday, this time we had two batters making 50+ followed by some devastating hitting in the death. Henk Coetzee (77) and Kobus Moolman (55) played well with Henk throwing away a century when trying a sweep shot against the spinner. Moolman’s innings was a combination of some good strike rotation and destructive hitting (2x6’s and 5x4’s).

In the last few over’s, Dean Geyer came in and destroyed the Old Boys attack with a swashbuckling 34 runs of just 12 balls! Balls were disappearing over the rope with regularity and Deans innings proved vital as the score pushed on to 206 in the allotted 45 overs.

Again, the Old Boys run chase got off to a good start with score moving to 56 without loss. However with two wickets in successive over’s, the middle order soon got exposed to the deadly spin bowling again of Jan Bothma. Wickets at regular stages meant that Old Boys could never really build partnerships and meant that there were always new batters at the crease to bowl dot balls to and build pressure.

Eventually in the 44th over Old boys were bowled out for 184 thus losing by 22 runs. Bothma, being the main destroyer, picking up 5 wickets, with Coetzee and Douglas chipping in with two apiece.

These two results can not be underestimated and is a massive boost for the Academy boys who have their club trials coming up soon on the 26th, 27th September and on the 3rd, 4th of October. The first League game starts on the 10th of October against the very same opposition (PHSOB) so let’s hope that these two victories against our arch rivals will be fresh in their memories and hopefully be a mental obstacle for them.

Currently, the Academy boys are on a well deserved week holiday, returning to duty on the 15th straight into an inter-squad 3day match, followed by a day night match vs Menlo Park 1st XI on the 18th of September. Once again well done to the Academy boys, lets hope that the pre-season work and good form runs well into the upcoming season.


* Anton Roux is the TuksCricket Academy Head Coach