Reflections on the National u13 Cricket Week

In reflecting back on the National u13 Cricket Week in East London this year I would like to start by commenting, as parent of a WP player, firstly on the long journey that each of the players have completed since the initial Zonal and Regional trials started late in 2010.

Although it is inevitable that there will have been players of talent and ability who slipped through the cracks in the process, I firmly believe that the boys selected to represent WP u13A at the cricket week was by and large the strongest possible combination in adhering to the selection criteria.

I was very impressed with the organization and meticulous preparation by the team coach, Russell Sissing, for each and every practice including the Winter Squad Sessions and I dare say that most of the parents of the boys will feel the same way. I have not previously seen such organization at this level of cricket. He varied the sessions well making sure that the boys were stimulated and challenged at each practice.

Russell also revealed to me some of the challenges that he faced in getting the team to gel. He mentioned that he had asked the team early on in their preparations to raise their hands if they batted in one of the top four positions for their school or club. Twelve out of thirteen hands were raised and he went on to explain to the boys that it was an impossible task for him to fit twelve players into four batting positions. The team was always made aware of such challenges and I think that they understood the difficulties even if they did not always agree with them.

I was also very glad to see that a session was held at Newlands with a top-level umpire for all WP age-group captains and vice-captains dealing with law changes and allowing the boys to ask questions with regard to situations on the field. Perhaps this could be extended to all the team members?

I would also like to see some more input on the role of the captains in the team. Perhaps a similar session as above with a current high-level captain sharing ideas on how to spot weaknesses in the opposition and once they have been identified what to do about it, how to set the right fields for a new batsman to keep him under pressure, how to get the best out of your team members and various similar issues.

Thank you to Western Province Cricket for the time and effort invested in recognizing our boys as ambassadors of the province and in particular to Russell Sissing for his unwavering dedication and commitment to ensuring that the team was as well prepared as possible for the physically and mentally demanding week.

I thought that the whole week in East London was very well run with regards to accommodation sorted, meals provided, playing venues and match conditions (rules) clearly laid out for the teams, umpires and scorers all readily available for each match.

From a supporter’s point of view it would help a lot if some of the above was more readily available to us. To this end I think that a central website with information on venues (maps and directions to each), match formats, fixtures for the tournament, results summary at the end of the day for each match and similar information were posted.

It would be nice to be able to see how the fixtures were decided on after the two time matches were played and again after the two T20 games.

On the whole however, I feel that the tournament was very well run and that the boys enjoyed and experienced a week of top-level cricket such that they have not previous had the fortune to do. That they would have learned an enormous amount from a week like this goes without saying and I for one extend a huge thank you to Cricket South Africa for this superb event. I am sure that it will yet again produce many stars at provincial level and one or two future stars for our country.