Tuks captain Neil Brand spoke about the winning culture at Tuks, and how they have managed to remain the champions for five consecutive years.
Neil Brand, who is currently playing his second year of Varsity Cricket for Tuks and is also a contracted Titans player, says that he was lucky to play in the final in his first year at the university. After finishing at the top of the log in 2019, Brand believes that Tuks have peaked at the right time and have found the perfect balance between experience and youth. Brand also gives credit to the coaching staff saying that the facilities they have are second to none. “We’ve had grass nets since May, so hopefully that will help us in the final.”
Brand adds a new depth of experience, having gone to school and university in England before returning to South Africa. “It was a shock coming back but I’m obviously happy to be here and grateful for the opportunity to hopefully make it two in a row for us.”
Despite the dry conditions this year, Brand is happy with his personal performance, saying “I started a bit slow, having been in the Seychelles with the Titans I was a little bit below par, but I found my stride. I’m happy that nobody has really stood out in our team, we’ve all contributed a different game. It’s definitely been a joint effort.”
Most of the games have been tough; all
the winning teams have won by such small margins. Brand believes that teams
that dominate in the power play are the teams that are more successful at the
end of the day.
“I love it. I think it’s great. I think it would be great if they could find a
way to bring it into franchise cricket because you’re never out of the game.
It’s tough to be the captain of the power play, especially when you’re the
bowling team, but I think this year we played it really well.”
By Bronwen Bain
