Amateur cricketers are getting their chance to shine in the sun

Last Man Stands South Africa breaks new ground this morning at Harlequins Cricket Club in Pretoria when the first ball of the inaugural Gauteng Super Series is bowled.

Six squads of 10 players each were selected at a draft evening last month, based on the regional rankings of players as of June 3, 2019. Owners of the six teams – the Northern Kings, Johannesburg Phantoms, Lenasia Rockets, Sandton Sluggers, West Rand Foo Dogs and Pretoria Pride – picked their squads in a draft system. They were also allowed a wildcard that didn’t necessarily have to come from the ranked players.

While the Super Series has played out in Sydney, London and Dhaka this year, it comes to Africa for the first time. India will also host a Super Series in the near future, leading to an international Super Series, whereby all players in the various drafts are eligible for an international draft and competition next year.

“For the first time, the best of the best in South Africa will play each other,” said Bjorn Briggs, tournament director this week.

“Yes, we’ve had SA Champs and other big tournaments in South Africa, but that’s more of your mates playing together on the national stage.

“This is a chance to showcase the best Last Man Stands has to offer. It’s also an opportunity to remind all our amateur cricketers – because you must remember these aren’t professional players – that they have a chance to impress on the Super Series stage.

“This is the best we have to offer, according to rankings. It will be fun and interesting to see how these evenly-matched teams get on,” Briggs added.

There’s also an added incentive, other than the R80 000 in prize money that goes to the winning owner.

“At the conclusion of the Super Series we’ll be selecting a South African team to play at the World Championships in the United States next year,” said Briggs.

“We expect this tournament to only get bigger and better. Next year we want to have 12 teams, and include more players and teams from around the country.”

So what is Last Man Stands? It is a 20-over-a-side cricket format that pits eight players per side against each other. If a team loses seven wickets in an innings, the remaining batsman continues to bat without a partner, instead of being stranded (according to the normal Laws of Cricket, a batsman cannot bat without a partner). Five-ball overs, double plays (much like baseball) and 12 runs for a six – a home run – off the final ball of the innings are other variations.

The six teams are split into two groups of three teams, where they will each play two matches on Saturday and Sunday – at 9.30am, noon and 2.30pm. The bottom team of each group will fall out, with the remaining four teams contesting the semifinals, and then the final on Tuesday.

All nine matches will be live-streamed on the three days on citizen.co.za.