Rowles, Leketa, and Sutherland scoop Fasken Time Cricket Festival awards
Jason Rowles, Dakalo Leketa, and Llewellyn Sutherland claimed the top individual honours when the St David’s Fasken Time Cricket Festival came to an end on Sunday. The trio was adjudged to be the player, bowler, and batsman of the festival, respectively.
Rowles was imperious with the bat, amassing 311 runs at an average of 77.75 across four innings while scoring a century and two half-centuries. The St David’s Marist Inanda star also excelled with the ball, bagging 15 wickets in 58 overs.
Leketa spun his way to three five-wicket hauls in four innings. He captured 23 wickets for 217 runs, including 7/28 in the second innings of St Andrew’s School‘s win over King Edward VII (KES).
Like Rowles, Maritzburg College opener Sutherland registered two fifties and a century, finishing the festival with 263 runs at an average of 65.75.
The trio embodied the values the festival seeks to impart to young cricketers, demonstrating consistency and application, which was what the conditions demanded.
“There have been instances where teams have been bowled out for nothing and players have not understood how to be patient and still want to play some one-day shots. So, I think there’s been a lot of lessons learned,” Dave Nosworthy, the St David’s Director of Cricket, said.
“Time cricket is a format that teaches guys to be able to bat for longer periods and bowlers to bowl into second and third spells, to know what it really feels like after four days of cricket.
“It is a practice in patience. Bowlers have time to work a batter, build some pressure, and wait for that bad stroke. Fielders spend time on their feet, a lot more than they are used to,” Nosworthy added.
The Fasken Time Cricket Festival fills a void in the school cricket calendar that was left after Cricket South Africa scrapped u19 three-day contests due to budget constraints. It has been running for eight years and, with 14 teams participating, the 2024 event was the biggest one yet.
“It’s grown massively over the years, and this year we’ve had the most schools attend. There’s been a lot of demand over the years, and we’ve tried to keep it as small and as tight as possible. Obviously, fields play a role, as well,” Nosworthy explained.
The 2024 participants were Bishops Diocesan College, Clifton College, Jeppe High School for Boys, King Edward VII School, the Lions Invitation XI, Maritzburg College, Hoërskool Nelspruit, Hoërskool Noordheuwel, St Andrew’s School, St Charles College, St David’s Marist Inanda, St John’s College, St Stithians College and Hoërskool Waterkloof.
The teams played on seven fields at three schools: the Temba Bavuma, La Valla, Gier, and Le Rosey ovals at St David’s, the Wayne Joubert and Dlamini ovals at St Stithians, and the Mitchell Oval at St John’s.
“Fasken has been superb as a sponsor in their support of young cricketers and leaders,” Nosworthy said.
The players also drew inspiration from the words of Temba Bavuma, a St David’s old boy and the captain of the South African Test cricket team.
He addressed the players at the festival’s opening breakfast where he shared his experiences in Test cricket and how the longer form of the game offered in the Fasken Time Cricket Festival, helped him to develop his game and use it as a launch pad for his professional career. Time cricket played an integral role in the development of players of Bavuma’s generation and others who donned the green and gold before him, including the likes of Hashim Amla and Graeme Smith.
“St. Davids is proud to be hosting this type of festival, one of only a few in the country,” Nosworthy said. “There aren’t many events that really focus on the longer version. Next year, we’ll probably get another seven or eight more schools asking to attend. There is a demand, and we need to try and facilitate it.”
Most of the inquiries about the expansion of the festival that Nosworthy and his team have fielded have come from former cricketers who have taken on roles at cricket-playing schools. They benefitted from longer formats in their youth and they recognise its value, not only in red-ball cricket but also as a means to help players develop a sound technique for white-ball cricket.
“They want this type of format because they know its importance in the growth and development of the players,” Nosworthy said.
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