Madibaz cricketers plan for victory
The Madibaz cricket teams are determined to make an impact in the University Sport SA (USSA) tournament in the Western Cape that started on Monday 3 December and ends on Friday 7 December.
The annual competition takes place in Stellenbosch and Nelson Mandela University is fielding two teams: Madibaz A competing in pool A
(the top eight teams) and Madibaz B in pool B. Todd Walker from Knysna plays for Madibaz B.
Madibaz A will be looking to make up for the disappointment of losing to Pretoria University in last year’s final, said captain David Masterson, adding that the team’s focus would be on their first game against UCT.
Despite losing some key players from last year, he said there is still a good spread of experience in the squad, “with more than half the guys playing last year”.
The Madibaz B team, consisting of predominantly players from the George campus, will have a number of new faces in their ranks but are fired up to prove their potential. George campus sport manager Hugo Loubser says their focus would be on improving on their performances from last year when they finished seventh out of eight teams.
“This time we want to do better than that and are aiming for the semifinals.
“I believe we can go all the way if we play to our potential and stick to our game plan,” he said before the tournament.
The George team would be missing star batsman and captain Jean du Plessis, who had provincial commitments.
“Although there have been many changes – there are only two players left from last year – I believe there is a great deal of potential in the squad,” he said. “Levin Muller, who missed the 2017 tournament due to injury, is back and has been showing really good form, while Travis Ackerman, a top-order batsman and off-spinner, will captain the team in the absence of Jean.”
He added that the large number of allrounders in the side provided the coach and captain with plenty of options, “especially later in the week when the pitches start to wear”. –