Tomorrow in England Faf du Plessis will be captaining the Proteas in a World Cup warmup match against Sri Lanka while in Benoni Sune Luus will lead from the front when South Africa's women's cricket team take on Pakistan in the fifth and final game of a one-day series.
Many might ask what the connection between these two games is. The answer is simple Du Plessis, and Luus got to finetune their skills as cricketers at Assupol Tuks Cricket. It says something about the role the club has been playing in South African cricket over the last hundred years.
Assupol Tuks will be celebrating "a hundred not out" with a gala function on 22 August at SuperSport Park. They certainly have a lot to celebrate.
During the last five years, no less than five former Assupol Tuks crickets got to captain the men's and women's national teams. Mignon du Preez was the first to do so; then AB de Villiers got called up to captain the Proteas. After him, Du Plessis took over the reins.
Aiden Markram stood in as Protea captain for a few matches. He is the only captain to have led South Africa to victory at a World Cup Tournament. In 2014 he was the captain when South Africa won the ICC Under-19 Cricket World Cup Tournament.
Another interesting statistic which illustrates the vital role Assupol Tuks plays in South African cricket is that in 2018 there was a stage when seven former players were playing for the Proteas. They were Du Plessis, De Villiers, Morne Morkel, Markram, Lungi Ngidi, Heinrich Klaasen and Theunis de Bruyn.
All of them are quick to credit the role the coaches at Assupol Tuks Cricket played in helping them master the basics, making sure there is a solid base for the players to further their careers.
The current head coach, Kruger van Wyk, keeps reiterating that it is getting to do the small things right that leads to big moments on the pitch. His team's results speak for itself. It feels like forever that Assupol Tuks has been dominating all of the Northerns Cricket leagues seldom losing.
The team has also impacted on all of the national club competitions winning the Varsity Tournament, USSA Tournament, National Club Championships on more than one occasion. Assupol Tuks even won the International Red Bull Varsity Tournament on two occasions.
It is for this reason that Hein Raath, the club's president, said he wants as many former players, coaches, umpires and administrators to attend.
"On 22 August we will be celebrating a hundred years of excellence. I am encouraging everyone who was ever involved with the club to join us. It does not matter whether you only played for the third team; you still contributed to our success."
For more information on the planned centenary celebrations, Juanita da Matta (Silver Crest Event Management) can be contacted at 0845145180 or
[email protected].
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