Day one of the Independent Schools Cricket Festival rained out
After two days of heavy rain, no play was possible on Thursday, the opening day of the Independent Schools Festival in Pretoria.
With more rain forecast for the remaining three days, the ground staff and curators at the various venues were already hard at work early on Thursday morning to try and get the fields into playable conditions before the second day gets underway on Friday.
Due to the lack of action on the first day, Friday will see two rounds of five T20 matches to be played at St Alban’s College’s TC Mitchell, Balloy and Murray Ovals and Cornwall Hill’s Van der Byl, Parke de Terrace and Landsend Ovals.
Day two has some juicy matches lined up. Arguably, the pick of those is the showdown between St John’s College and St Andrew’s School at Cornwall Hill College‘s Parke de Terrace Oval.
They’ve met once this season already, with St John’s winning on that occasion, but the St Andrew’s boys have played their best cricket recently and they’ll be contesting the national final of the Schools SA20 next month.
Follow all the action on SuperSport Schools – (www.supersportschools.com)
Bishops Diocesan College and Clifton College are set to light up St Alban’s College‘s Baloyi Oval. The Cape Town school, after an excellent 2024, remains a powerful unit while Clifton has been a touch off their best. They’re blessed with some outstanding players, though, and if they find their best form they could set Bishops a stern test.
Cornwall Hill College will face a tough task when they host St Stithians College on the Van der Byl Oval.
At 15:00 the Van der Byl Oval will host what will surely be an interesting clash between St Benedict’s College and Hilton College. Both have been somewhat inconsistent this season, but both also have players capable of producing match-winning cricket.
Michaelhouse fronts up to Makhanda’s St Andrew’s College on the TC Mitchell Oval in round two, while Helpmekaar Kollege heads to Cornwall Hill’s Land’s End Oval for a meeting with St John’s College, from Harare during round one.
The other Zimbabwean team, St George’s College, also from Harare, takes on Kingswood College, who are coached by former South Africa A and Warriors’ fast bowler, Andrew Birch.
The hosts, St Alban’s College, will enjoy the familiar confines of their TC Mitchell Oval when they take on Kearsney College. They were supposed to meet at the iHlobo Festival in January, but that match was rained out.
Updated Fixtures Day 2 – Friday, 21 February
T20 – Round 1 – 12:00:
St Alban’s College vs Kearsney College – TC Mitchell Oval
St George’s College (Zim) vs Kingswood College – Baloyi Oval
Cornwall Hill College vs St Stithians – Van der Byl Oval
St John’s College vs St Andrew’s Schools – Parke de Terrace Oval
St John’s College (Zim) vs Helpmekaar Kollege – Landsend Oval
T20 – Round 2 – 15:00:
Michaelhouse vs St Andrew’s College – TC Mitchell Oval
Diocesan College vs Clifton College – Murray Oval
St Benedict’s College vs Hilton College – Van der Byl Oval
St David’s Marist vs Woodridge College – Parke de Terrace
Uplands College vs Titans Hub Invitational XI – Landsend Oval
