Alex lad to take on the Scots
Budding cricketer Christopher Mohale, 21, is counting a few days before he jets off to Scotland where he will play club cricket for Glenrothes Cricket Club for a season. caught up with him
GROWING up in Alexandra township where he lives with his extended family in a bachelor flat, Christopher Mohale did not let a rather challenging environment stand in the way of his aspirations.
His medals and trophies adorn the cabinet that is strategically placed in the centre to separate the oneroomed apartment he shares with his mom, dad and three siblings.
His playing equipment – worn out balls and a few bats – are stashed on one corner in the bathroom.
This is not a big deal but a way of life for Mohale who is rated highly by his teammates at Alex Cricket Club as an off-spin batsman.
“I come a long way and I won’t give up in pursuing my dream of playing first-class cricket one day; I’d be failing myself,” he said.
Since he faced his first ball aged 10 during a school break, the likeable fellow has never looked back.
After all, his primary school, Skeen, was just a few metres across the Alexandra Cricket Oval.
However, Mohale’s aspirations of advancing to “Model C” schools remained just a pipe-dream as his parents could not afford to take him to institutions like Jeppe Boys High or St Stithians Boys College, ranked among the best cricket schools in Johannesburg.
However, he was still able to compete with the likes of Kagiso “KG” Rabada and Quinton de Kock at school level. In fact, Mohale would probably be in the Proteas team as the two but he couldn’t meet the selection criteria to make the SA Under-19 tour of India in 2014.
“I made the Gauteng Under-19 but I missed out because I turned 19 before the World Cup. But my break will come one day,” Mohale said of the tour that launched Rabada into prominence as the ICC Under-19 world champion.
Mohale is encouraged by the continuous emergence of young black cricketers on the big stage with the Proteas – the likes of Rabada, Temba Bavuma, Andile Phehlukwayo and, most recently, Lungi Ngidi.
“I used to play against Rabada when he was in the St Stithians Under-19 side, and against Quinton who was at Old Eds,” he says.
“I still get a chance to mix with them, especially around the time of [the Proteas] international games.”
Mohale was most recently invited to bowl for the Proteas and Sri Lanka during their net sessions at the Wanderers ahead of the justconcluded one-day international series.
He credits Harry Maluleke, a former sports coordinator at Skeen Primary, as being one of the leading figures who helped nurture his talent. Maluleke played for Alex Cricket Club and the Wanderers Colts in his heyday and he is a qualified coach who founded the Harry Cricket Academy last year.
But it was Tiro Madiseng, the Scottish SA scout, who told Mohale to “get some wickets and score some runs” to claim the Scotland prize.
Glenrothes will provide Mohale with “a bedroom and meals throughout his stay” but he had to raise about R23 000 to cover some of his travelling expenses and secure a visa. He achieved this through an interview with a Gauteng-based radio station, where good Samaritans called in to ensure that Mohale beat the January 30 deadline to get his papers in order.
“I am so grateful to everyone who contributed to this cause because I could not afford to let this opportunity slip, as it happened in 2015 when a lack of financial aid prevented me from a similar chance to play club cricket in England.”
The Scottish season will run from April 29, a few days after Mohale’s 22nd birthday, until late August.