EP Rural cricket team make history in SA tournament final
The EP Grahamstown Rural cricket team pulled off a historic feat by winning the Cricket SA Coastal Rural cricket week in Boland for the first time two weeks ago.
EP Grahamstown Rural turned things around despite losing their first match to qualify for the Vredenburg final, where they beat the powerful Boland outfit by seven runs in a close-fought but low-scoring encounter.
The regional team of club cricketers from Ndlambe and Makana, who play under the auspices of the Grahamstown Cricket Board, had never won the tournament before.
Rural Cricket SA president Leon Coetzee, who is also GCB president, said it was a proud moment when he handed over the trophy to the EP players.
“There were some good players in the past who represented EP Grahamstown but always fell short at this tournament,” Coetzee said.
“But somehow this year this bunch of players impressed everyone and played very well. I was absolutely over the moon.
“There was no tournament last year and I could sense a wonderful team spirit this time around.
“However, they had that urge to win as they had unfinished business against Boland and SWD. They were really pumped up.
“Though I was at the grounds all week in my capacity as president of Rural Cricket, I had to tell my colleagues I was putting on my GCB hat once the boys had won the trophy and I had the honour of handing it over to winning captain Cariston Haarhoff. It was truly a great feeling.”
Coetzee said the week’s matches from February 18-22 — a series of T20 and 50-over games — were played among eight teams: EP Grahamstown, EP Midlands, Border Aloes, Border Country, Border Villages, Kei, SWD and Boland.
“I’m not shy to say it but we have one of the better rural leagues in the country.
“Our [GCB] rural league is competitive and the quality of cricket is very good.
“We are privileged to have all these farming communities around us who make their* wonderful facilities available for the league to play on.
“The camaraderie and will to win was there and Haarhoff [Willows] and vice-captain Buster Brotherton [Salem] led their team excellently.
“Even losing the first T20 game to Boland didn’t get them down, the team spirit and will to win was still there.”
Brotherton said it was a fantastic feeling to win.
“We lost our first game against Boland and we knew we had to pick ourselves up, which we fortunately did.”
He said after the success, they were justified in their belief that the Ndlambe-Makana region had one of the strongest rural leagues in the country.
“Another good thing is that we had players representative across all the seven first team clubs from our local GCB league ... and there was always a great team spirit.
“We are really a special team of 13 players.” Summarised scores:
EP Grahamstown Rural 101/6 in 20 overs: Josh van Rensburg 25 (37), Jurie Norval 18 (15), Marquin Loutz 15 (11)). Boland 95/5 in 20 overs: Marquin Loutz 1/13, Jurie Norval 1/20. EP won by seven runs. — Talk of the Town