South African rising star re-signs for Kegworth CC

CRICKET fans in Kegworth are celebrating after the village cricket club resigned a young international cricket star for the 2021 season.

Kegworth Town has announced the return of former South Africa Under 19 captain Matthew Montgomery for their next campaign in the Leicestershire and Rutland Premier League.

Montgomery, who skippered the South Africa Under-19 on their Indian tour in February and March 2019. is widely-regarded as a superstar in the making

During the India tour he excelled, particularly with the bat, hitting notable half-centuries against India (57) and Afghanistan (73) alongside best bowling figures of 3-49 against India.

The right-handed batsman and useful off-spinner celebrated the honour of being named captain by striking a century on his List A debut for KwaZulu-Natal a few days later before his maiden unbeaten half-century in his second first-class match against South West Districts.

The schoolboy prodigy began his cricketing journey at the famous Clifton College in South Africa, where he broke virtually every run record in the school’s history.

He represented KZN and the Dolphins at every age-group, playing two Coke Weeks – skippering the latter (in December 2018). “Monty” has won many awards along the way.

He is Clifton College’s most capped 1st XI player (142 caps) and was awarded “best batsman” and “best allrounder” in 2015 (1,302 runs), 2016 (1,229 runs) and 2017 (1,245 runs).

In 2018, he represented the Dolphins Cubs (at CSA Cubs Week) and was named the KZN Under-19 “player of the season” in 2017/18.

He was named in the South African Schools Colts and SA Under-19 squad, before being named skipper for their tour of the sub-continent in 2019.

Monty has shown incredible promise at youth level, and in cricket watchers think his debut List A century was a sure sign that he has a huge future in the game

On “Monty’s” A List debut, he entered the crease at 33-3 and guided his KZN from 88-7 to 109-9 then 185 with Monty’s wicket the last to fall after making a brilliant 121-ball 104. His innings was exceptional when you factor in his side’s struggle – the next highest score was 14.

Monty has gone on to play 10 domestic matches across the three formats in South Africa, before embarking on his maiden UK stint in 2019.

Following in the footsteps of Australian top-order batsman Aaron Finch, Monty joined Yorkshire Premier League North club Clifton Alliance, where he impressed, hitting 1,158 runs at 72.38 in league and cup fixtures, alongside 35 wickets at 29.71.

Holder of a European (German) Passport and living in the UK on a Limited Leave To Remain (LTR) Visa, the talented youngster is currently studying at Loughborough University and linked up with Kegworth Town, for the 2020 season.

He made an early impression for the club, hitting a century (102) in his second outing against Loughborough Carillon before figures of 4-37 against the Academy in his third match.

Given his success during their truncated season, the club was swift to reengage Montgomery for a second stint in 2021.