Durban – The KZN Cricket Union in conjunction with CSA, KZN Department of Sport and Recreation and Sunfoil continue to play a critical role in shaping the country’s future cricket stars through it’s highly successful development program, and in the Union’s quest to remain relevant and innovative it has taken the bold step to expand the annual tournament into two events.
This year both of the tournaments are being played at Michaelhouse in the KwaZulu-Natal Midlands later this month.
This year will be the twelfth edition of the ground-breaking development cricket week, with the 16-team Sunfoil KZN DSR Hubs Tournament taking place from 22 to 25 June, followed by the Sunfoil KZN DSR Elite Tournament from 25 to 28 June.
The first tournament will feature seven teams representing the fifteen KZN Hub teams from across the province, with the eighth team in the tournament being an invitational side made up of players that attend mainstream schools on bursaries.
From the four days of cricket there will be two teams selected, an Under 15 and Under 19 side, which will represent KwaZulu-Natal in the Elite Tournament.
This second competition will include teams from all over the country. There will be Under 15 and Under 19 sides from Western Province, as well as teams from Easterns, Border, Eastern Province and Gauteng.
There will be four Under 15 sides and four Under 19 sides battling it out over the four days which will include time cricket, a 50 over match and two T20 games.
Speaking about the expansion of the tournament into two separate events, Sane Mzimela, Hubs/RPC Development Manager at KZN Cricket, said she is looking forward to seeing how the KZN Hubs Tournament improves the competition amongst the players.
“The union saw the need and importance of aligning all our development structures as one Hub/RPC programme in order to speak directly to the CSA Scorecard,” Mzimela said.
“This year is our first tournament as the KZN Hubs and we will use this platform to measure our growth and to identify potential talent for our Regional Performance Centre (RPC).
“What is more exciting is that it will also create competition amongst all our KZN Hubs and at the same time gives clear guidance in terms of what is expected of them to develop and grow in their various Hubs. “
Sunfoil have been hugely involved in cricket development throughout the country and they are an important cog in the machine that has made this cricket week such a success. The contribution of the KwaZulu-Natal Department of Sport and Recreation has also been invaluable to the event.
“Both our main sponsors play a massive role in making sure that our programme is sustained and grows to all corners of KwaZulu-Natal and for that we are very grateful.
“We also have other sponsors who make it possible for us to run a successful event in the Sport Development Trust, Kookaburra, eThekwini Municipality, Sedgars Sport and ILM-SA,” Mzimela added.
Being able to nurture and enhance talent through tournaments like this is a great way for KZN Cricket to enhance their talent pool.
“Our ultimate aim as the KZN Cricket Union is sustainable excellence,” KZN Cricket CEO Heinrich Strydom said. “The first part of this process is to ensure that we make cricket accessible to all areas in KZN, and this tournament is critical in achieving that.
“Our RPC/Hubs development program currently consists of 15 full time hubs, representing more than 50 townships, and empowering more than 60 coaches.
“None of this would be possible without our incredible stakeholders,” he emphasised.