THE best u.19 cricketers in Nelson Mandela Bay found it tough going at the annual Cubs Week in Stellenbosch.
They were part of the Eastern Warriors squad selected from the best-performing Eastern Province and Border team players at the Khaya Majola Week last month.
The Warriors found out why the Cubs Week, played earlier this month, is regarded as the toughest u.19 tournament in South Africa.
They lost all five matches and, in three of those, were totally outclassed. They acquitted themselves better in the other two and were unlucky not to have won the first match.
Getting over the line in the first match against the Western Legends could have seen things turn out very differently for the Warriors.
A win early in the tournament would have given the Warriors more confidence for the trials that still lay ahead at the event.
Daniel Ristow (Grey High) nearly won the first match for the Warriors with a magnificent unbeaten knock of 88 runs; he just ran out of batting partners and, if someone could have stayed with him, he had the potential to get his team past the target. The Legends won by 13 runs.
Jean Upman (Grey High) produced an outstanding all-round performance for the Warriors in the second match against the Southern Superstars.
He was the pick of the bowlers with a figure of 2/35 and was also the top run-scorer for the side, with a valuable 87 runs added to the team’s tally. It was not enough as the Superstars won easily by 49 runs.
The Warriors batted well against the Coastal Conquerors with Upman (70) and the Border player Tre Gilbert (61) leading the way. The Warriors lost by four wickets.
Things did not go well at all in the last two matches.
Casey Keevey (51, Grey High) batted well, but the Central Gladiators destroyed the Warriors by seven wickets.
It was also one-way traffic in the last match against the Northern Champions.
There were some solid contributions with the ball by Esa Gangat (Pearson) and Ristow and Gilbert with the bat, but still the Champions won by a massive 98 runs.
Although the Bay cricketers were not able to celebrate a victory in Stellenbosch, they gained some wonderful experience to build on.
They will certainly put what they have learned to good use for their respective sides in the current school season.
Many other cricket weeks have been taking place all over country during the school holidays where teams from Nelson Mandela Bay were in action. There is still plenty of action to look forward to with some mouth-watering local clashes on its way.
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The Eastern Warriors squad:
Ben van der Merwe (Border), Tre Gilbert (EP), Simnikiwe Soyaya (EP), Russell Peterson (EP), Olwakhe Goqoza (EP), Jean Upman (EP), Casey Keevy (EP), Daniel Ristow (EP), Aphiwe Mnyanda (EP), Tyler Stagg (Border), Tozama Totama (Border), Ryan Denston (Border) and Esa Gangat (EP).
