In July 2014, South Africa were invited to take part in the Red Bull Campus Cricket World Finals for the first time. Assupol TuksCricket qualified to represent South Africa after they beat Maties in the South African qualifiers. South Africa were unbeaten at last year’s World Finals and became World Champions when they beat West Indies in the final at the Kia Oval in London on 26 July 2014.

Assupol TuksCricket had to qualify again to represent South Africa at the World Finals in 2015 through winning the Varsity Cricket week in Potchefstroom. Assupol TuksCricket only lost one of their nine matches during the tournament and beat Maties in the final at Senwes Park on 8 February 2015 to be able to go and defend their title later this year.

The 2015 Red Bull Campus Cricket World Finals will be taking place in Dehradun, India in October. The tournament will be taking place from 18 – 24 October at the National School of Cricket just outside of Dehradun in the North of India. The other countries taking part in the competition will be India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, UAE, Australia and England. This T20 competition will consist of group games from 19 – 22 October and the semi-finals and final will take place on 24 October.

Assupol TuksCricket have had a very focused pre-season and started with their preparation for the tournament in July. A lot of hard work is being put in by the coaches and players to ensure that they are ready to take on this tournament and become World Champions again. Part of the preparation for the team will be a stopover in Dubai on the way to the tournament to train at the ICC Cricket Academy to ensure that they are ready to play in the sub-continental conditions and on the Indian pitches. The team’s preparation will continue with specific training and matches throughout August, September and October to ensure that they cover all their bases to be completely ready for the tournament.

Assupol TuksCricket Head Coach, Pierre de Bruyn, said, “We are entering foreign territory where most of us have not been to India before. However, we have prepared as well as we can identifying areas such as conditions and relevant tactics in the sub-continent. It is an amazing opportunity for these young students to showcase their ability and talent on the world stage.”