Switch Schools SA20 Player Profile – Abriam “AB” Jacobs (Paarl Boys’ High)
Abriam, or “AB” Jacobs, as he is known, was the top scorer in the final of the Western Cape’s second volume of the Switch Schools SA20, helping to power Paarl Boys’ High to the regional title.
He struck six boundaries, five of them sixes, in an exciting 46 runs off 36 balls against Boishaai‘s arch-rivals, Paarl Gimnasium.
Jacobs was even more impressive in the semi-final, where Boys’ High vanquished the 2025 national winners, Bishops. In that match, he delivered a match-winning knock, hammering eight sixes and four fours in a brilliant 79 runs off only 29 deliveries.
Like many of the star athletes profiled by SuperSport Schools Plus, Jacobs credited an older sibling with his introduction to the game: “I first remember playing with my brother in the backyard. I was trying to bat better than him, and if I got out, I started crying because I wanted to bat the whole time, just to show him that I was better than him.”
Boishaai Head Coach Johann Louw said Jacobs is now playing the role of an older brother to his peers: “He is a fun-loving guy, and adds a bit of humour to any situation. Shy at first, but when comfortable, he can certainly lighten up the mood. He is developing into a solid young man who is not shy to share and add value to the younger players.”
Those backyard sessions provided the hard-hitting AJ Jacobs with an advantage during his primary school and early high school days. Louw recalled: “I first saw AB play at u14 level, and it was a remarkable performance. Wynberg was on 90/1, and AB was given the ball and ended up taking 7/15 to dismiss Wynberg for 115.
He then opened the batting, and the first three balls of the innings went for six. He got 50-odd, and they [Paarl Boys’ High] won the game in 14 overs. That was the start of knowing his antics.
“As a junior, he also scored a couple of double hundreds, and he boasts a top-score of 356 not out in an u13 50-over game; a feat which seemed like a fluke at the time.”
Louw then cast his educated eye to AB Jacobs’ current game: “AB is a very natural player, being able to bat, bowl and wicket-keep,” he said. “He’s arguably the best u19 ‘keeper in the country, who also can bowl seam at 120km per hour, and on top of all that, the ability to bat at tempos seldom matched by the opposition.
“It makes it hard to decide when and where to use him.
“What I have seen developing the most is his ability to identify game-changing moments, and then to win those moments more often than not,” Louw revealed.
Jacobs admitted that he sometimes tries to play too aggressively at the start of his innings: “I want to improve my patience when entering the crease. I need to remember to play the ball on the ground until I’m settled in. Only then can I play my big shots.”
The wicket-keeping all-rounder also expressed his desire to play cricket full-time: “I want to achieve the highest possible level in the sport: to play professional cricket.
“I want to start playing among senior pros who already know what the game’s like at that level, so I can learn from their experience to fast-track my learning in the period between ending school and playing professionally.”
Given his exploits in the Western Cape regional final, Paarl Boys’ High heads to the Switch Schools SA20 Final Showdown with a not-so-secret weapon in their ranks. Boishaai’s opposition knows AB Jacobs. The question, though, is, can they stop him?
