28 November 2007

After the success of the inaugural ‘Spirit of Commerce Corporate 20/20 Cricket Competition’ in the UK in 2007, it seemed a perfect opportunity to have a similar day during the professionals’ own competition in South Africa in September.

The ICC T20 World Cup itself was a fantastic success and really grabbed the imagination of the cricketing public as well as the headlines for all the right reasons. Whilst the players were, in the main, quite inexperienced in this very short version of the game, the positives hugely outweighed the negatives.

Around the grounds, there was a carnival atmosphere with a huge number of locals joining in and contributing to the festival spirit of the competition. Groups of dancers were spread around the ground and were up and down for 15-20 seconds at a time every boundary and wicket and were accompanied by ‘top tunes’ from Dr. Beat and the ‘kicking’ tunes from local DJs. In the case of Stuart Broad’s infamous over to Yuvraj Singh, I’m not sure they actually sat down for about 5 minutes!

There was amazing support for all teams, especially the eventual winners India, with their national flags making up the vast majority, whether or not India were even playing. Quite naturally, only South Africa flags rivalled the Indian support with hugely knowledgeable crowds enjoying the party. All three grounds had grassy areas from which families could watch in safety and appreciate the action as well as move around without too much restriction.

Nearly every match had everything, except experienced performers. By definition, most players were too young to be brought up on the ‘evening league’ of 20 overs each, so prevalent in the UK. As a result, the lesser fancied teams had their day and some notable victories were achieved. Explosive hitting was accompanied by some inventive shot-making with the bowlers, in the main, suffering. Highlights included a Brett Lee hat-trick for Australia Bangladesh, Yuvraj Singh’s six sixes for India vs England (well Stuart Broad really), Sri Lanka’s 260 versus Kenya (that’s 13 per over, every over!), a century from Chris Gayle for the West Indies (117 versus the hosts) and if it hadn’t been for a no-ball, we might have had the first ‘Michelle’ (5-fa for the uninitiated) as Morne Morkel overstepped the line against New Zealand. Best bowling eventually went to a New Zealander, 4-7 by Mark Gillespie against Kenya. Not too sure how much to read into the fact that the top five best bowling figures were all at Kingsmead, Durban or that five of the top seven highest scores were at Johannesburg, which also was the venue for the highest partnerships for each of the first seven wickets.

Cape Town, although not statistically, did get mentions for a great stadium, best backdrop and highest mountain I had to climb. Even the anti-clockwise lap took a good three hours to complete with a variety of animals looking on. Robben Island also proved to be a good photo opportunity just before a local school outing passed by. Not quite the same as a day trip in England though.

This was also the venue for some other cricket during the T20 World Cup which I alluded to earlier.

After a number of emails and phone calls to contacts in Cape Town, Durban and Johannesburg, it was the University of Cape Town (UCT) who were quickest off the mark to agree to arrange this one-off day.

So the inaugural SOC ‘Orient Express Corporate 20/20 Cricket Challenge’ was held on Monday 19th September after only a few weeks of negotiations, at the University of Cape Town who agreed to host on a pitch specially prepared for the day by legendary groundsman Sammy and his new apprentice Ricardo. Invited teams were their club sponsors, Olmeca Tequila and along with DMI Ink and sponsors Orient Express Hotels, a mixture of UCT old boys, current UCT cricketers and guests made up the numbers.

Game 1

DMI UCT Old Boys 132-9 (Jackson 50, Botha 33, Van der Velde 2-18, Moore 2-8) lost to
Olmeca Tequila UCT 135-4 (Townsend 51*, Botha 40) by 6 wickets

The Olmeca Tequila UCT team beat the DMI Ink UCT Old Boys on a warm and pleasant Monday. Ex- Western Province’s Kenny Jackson led the way with an accomplished half-century with able support from Leon Botha, whilst ex-Springbok Merrick Pringle added a lusty 16. Turning back the years, Pringle managed an early breakthrough although it was quite evident that it was to be a one and only spell, at his insistence! In reply, brother outscored brother as Botha’s 40 added to an untroubled half-century from Townsend. This allowed the score to be passed quite easily with more than an over to spare.

Game 2

Orient Express 131-4 (Geoghan 40, Botha 33, Peyper 2-32) lost to
Olmeca Tequila UCT 132-5 (Moore 42*, Conrad 34, Foot 2-21) by 5 wickets

After a good lunch, the first three batters made a steady start to the innings but could not reach beyond early double figures. However UCT Club Captain and local legend John Geoghagen, guesting for the sponsors team decided otherwise and set about some familiar and some not so familiar bowling. Despite a good support from the ever-reliable Botha, a target of just over a run a ball was never going to be enough unless a lot of early wickets were to fall. One was a start but as the next three achieved increasingly higher scores it was all over quite quickly. Conrad and Moore saw the game to it’s finality but not before your author took his first wicket in South Africa with a slower ball that was one of the few not to disappear over the ropes!

Winners: Olmeca Tequila UCT

A superb braai was enjoyed long into the evening by all and was organised by the most welcoming of hosts Peter and Sharon. Along with Sammy and Ricardo, they were thanked by UCT coach Kobus Olivier who presented the medals and trophy to the winning captain and UCT but was hugely responsible for liasing with me (from over 9000kms away!) and making the day happen so successfully. Players and supporters alike had a great day as plans for a return in March are already underway. Watch this space….!

Jim White
© Cricket World 2007

For more photos, taken by the UCT players, see their gallery at
http://sportsclubs.uct.ac.za/cricket/Twenty20_Photo%20Gallery.html

Flights by SAA, organised and supported by Edwin Doran Sports Travel www.edwindoran.com
SOC Challenge sponsored by Orient Express Hotels www.orient-express.com
Mobile Phone charger sponsored by Power Traveller www.powertraveller.com

Spirit Of Commerce Corporate 20/20