History beckons for Northern Cape Cricket
NORTHERN Cape Cricket (NCC) are about to make history at tomorrow’s annual general meeting (AGM) in Kimberley when the association is likely to elect its first ever black African as president since unification of the formerly racially segregated control bodies in 1991.
Eugene Jacobs NCC Chief Executive Officer yesterday confirmed that long time cricket servant and provincial team manager Thapelo Gibson Molale (41) has been nominated unopposed for the vacant position of president.
Molale (pictured) has been acting as president for NCC for the last two months. He was elevated to the position in November last year by the
Members Council when the previous incumbent Rihan Richards assumed the role of acting president at Cricket South Africa (CSA).
Apart from the NCC presidency position other posts up for election are that of the provincial organ’s vice-president as well as three other posts for non-independent directors.
The nominees for vice-president are: Ferdinand Bitterbos who hails from the Pixley ka Seme district and Theo-leighton de Kock from the John Taole Gaetsewe (JTG) region.
Jacobs revealed that the contestants for the three non-independent positions are Abdul Tier (NC Schools), Aiden Boyce, Theoleighton Dekock and Dr Mpho Motsepe from JTG.
The AGM itself will be held in the Blue Room at the Diamond Oval tomorrow starting at 10am. Only accredited voting members will be allowed inside in keeping with the current Covid-19 protocols.
Jacobs and other members with comorbidities will be linked virtually for the meeting.
The voting members include the regional associates – Pixley ka Seme, ZF Mgcawu, Namakwa, JTG, Frances Baard, affiliate schools, umpires and scorers.
Jacobs explained that though Molale is unopposed for the post, the association nonetheless insists on observing the constitutional provisions governing election matters.
As usual, the agenda for the meeting would generally include an overview of various reports including the association’s finances over the past season.
DESPITE Maritzburg United being in a crisis, Orlando Pirates coach Josef Zinnbauer is refusing to underestimate the Kwazulu-natal club ahead of their Nedbank Cup last-16 clash at Harry Gwala Stadium tomorrow.
“They are in the relegation zone, but this game is not about the league standings. Cup matches are always different to league matches. The players will be motivated to reach the next round and they will try to win. We will have to maintain our focus in the game,” the German tactician said.
Maritzburg currently occupy last place on the Premiership standings and in light of this, will be prioritising their relegation battle instead of advancing in South Africa’s premier Cup competition.
The Team of Choice were also dealt a major blow earlier this month after Keagan Buchanan and Pogiso Sanoka, arguably two of their better performers in the first half of the season, left the club.
However, Zinnbauer did say that his team will be positive ahead of the game. The Sea Robbers can be especially confident given that they have won their last two league games against Maritzburg at Harry Gwala Stadium with 1-0 scorelines. Their most recent win against Maritzburg away was in January as Deon Hotto went on to score the only goal of the game.
“We are confident. We have belief and have quality players. Nobody trusted us to win the MTN8, but we managed to advance to the latter rounds.
“We have a title and we will try to do our best again. We have a good structure and are playing well,” Zinnbauer said.
Pirates have struggled for consistency this season and Zinnbauer believes that this is because of injuries and the fact that he has been forced to utilise players outside their natural playing positions.
“We had many new players at the start of the season, did not have a normal pre-season and have had to integrate new players.
“We have many injured players with six attackers injured so it’s not easy to compete given the situation,” he said.