The inaugural Standard Bank Schools Pro20 Challenge which was launched on January 20 has been very popular among the participating schools.

With over 300 schools participating nationally, after being chosen by Cricket South Africa’s 16 affiliates who nominated the schools from their respective regions, the tournament is producing some fine talent.

The format will see an initial round robin regional phase followed by a provincial eight-team play-off, culminating in a Final.

Regional games got underway on January 20 and will finish on March 3.This will be followed by Provincial Finals on March 6 and 7, Franchise Finals on March 20 with the final taking place in early April.

Prize money will be allocated to winning schools at the different levels of competition with the understanding that the money must be used for the development of cricket at these schools.

Thirty three schools, comprising of eight groups are participating in the KZN Region. At the conclusion of the pool stages, the winners of each pool will progress to the weekend round of fixtures where they will be divided into two pools of four and will play a round robin format. The winners of each pool will progress to the finals.