ATTACK is the name of the game for Grey High School cricket captain, Jean Upman.
“I love attacking cricket,” said the 17-year-old all-round sportsman, describing his approach to the game.
Upman was one of the stars for the Eastern Warriors (a team picked from Eastern Province and Border) at the annual Cubs u.19 Week in Stellenbosch last month, producing some fine performances, with both bat and ball.
Upman does prefer batting though.
“I enjoy batting more than bowling, purely because with the bat I can try to dominate the game.
“I can take the attack to the fielding team. I think matches are won with the bat, more than with the ball. If I can contribute to winning the match for the team, then I’m happy,” he said, explaining his preference.
With that approach it is no surprise that former Protea, AB de Villiers, is his role model.
“The way he attacked the bowlers was always cool to watch. It is awesome that he stayed humble throughout his career.”
Not only is Upman a key player as an all-rounder in the Grey line-up, but he is also the captain.
“The captaincy is something I enjoy. It is tough at times to focus on doing my best and managing everyone else around me. There are some great teammates that can help out when necessary.”
Upman is also the EP u.19 golf captain and will soon have to make a decision he would have liked to avoid.
“Eventually I will have to pick between cricket and golf. I already started to favour the cricket way. I enjoy my golf, but I think I will give the cricket a go. It will be awesome to play cricket professionally. I do see it as a career but hard work has to be done.
“Hopefully I can get a contract after my school days. If that doesn’t happen, I will just have to put in the hard work. With a good season or two I can make sure I get something.”
Upman spends many hours playing cricket and golf, which means somewhere school work must be fitted in.
“The main thing is to listen properly in class and do my summaries. Then I will be fine but there will also be some late-night studying.”
His love for cricket started at a very young age.
“When the Proteas played at St George’s, I used to go and watch. My first cricket memory is scoring a hundred for the u.11A side. From then on I really wanted to play the game.
“Golf started more recently. Over the last four to five years I started to play more seriously.”
Grey is enjoying a fine cricket season. There are still tough matches ahead, but Upman feels Grey has the players to perform.
“We’ve got everything covered in the bowling department with pace and spin and we bat really deep. The mind-set in the team is really good and everyone gets along nicely.”
