Warriors the EC’s new sports heroes

NOT since the heady days of Davy Jacobs and his all-conquering 2010 heroes has there been this big a buzz around a Warriors cricket squad.

Jacobs’s side collected two trophies in that year and later also made the final of the Champions League T20 when it was hosted in South Africa.

They lost to the Chennai Super Kings in that final, but the defeat did not put a dampener on what was a fantastic year for the Eastern Cape franchise.

That was a team loaded with the likes of Proteas stars Jacques Kallis, Mark Boucher, Johan Botha, Rusty Theron, Colin Ingram, Nicky Boje, Makhaya Ntini, Ashwell Prince, Wayne Parnell and Lonwabo Tsotsobe.

In stark contrast, the Class of 2016’s success in qualifying for the playoffs so far has been achieved with only Ingram having full international experience.

Coach Malibongwe Maketa has often stressed during this CSA T20 Challenge campaign that his team has pulled together well as a unit and that they have performed as such.

But of course there have been a few stand-out performers like Andrew Birch, Colin Ackermann, Christiaan Jonker and Sisanda Magala, but none more so than captain Jon-Jon Smuts with both bat and ball.

It was his sublime, unbeaten hundred that helped lead his team to a fantastic victory over the Dolphins on Wednesday night. That sevenwicket win was the second best run-chase in the history of T20 cricket in South Africa.

Tonight, the Warriors take on the Cobras at St George’s Park and on Sunday they face the Titans in East London in a match which will decide who qualifies automatically for the final at their home venue.

It will be a nervous wait for Warriors fans who will be hoping their team can compete for silverware at St George’s Park next Friday.

Sport in this region has suffered in recent years, most notably EP Rugby. Now is the time for the public to get behind our rock star cricketers and lend them the support they deserve to help bring it home.