Varsity Cricket alumni featured prominently among the nominees at the 2019 CSA Awards, with Bjorn Fortuin leading the way.

Bjorn Fortuin was one of the stars of the inaugural Varsity Cricket tournament back in 2015, turning out for NWU – who fell short in the semi-finals that year. At that stage the Paarl-born-and-raised left-arm spinner was a regular with the North-West provincial side and slowly working his way into the Highveld Lions franchise set-up.

Four years down the line, the 24-year-old has had a statement-making season during which he was a key factor as the Lions claimed a double trophy haul.

During the 4-Day Franchise Series, Fortuin claimed 23 wickets and added 299 runs (including a career-best 183 in the title decider against the Warriors) from his lower order batting position.

He then showed how much he’s matured by being the leading wicket-taker during the CSA T20 Challenge, with 15 wickets at 14.33 apiece. That included 4/27 in the final (again against Warriors) which allowed him to beat out his captain Temba Bavuma, leading run-scorer Theunis de Bruyn and new Proteas star Rassie van der Dussen to CSA T20 Challenge Player of the Season trophy at the CSA Awards.

Fortuin also played a starring role for Paarl Rocks during the inaugural Mzansi Super League and the Lions weather-affected Momentum One-Day Challenge campaign. Those all-round efforts throughout the season, saw him also walking away with the Domestic Players’ Player of the Season – always a cherished award considering teammates and opponents vote on it.

Another winner on the evening was Tuks’ Neil Brand. The left-handed batsman and spin bowler started the 2018 by claiming the Varsity Cricket Player or the Tournament, before continuing to star as Tuks made a clean sweep of all the other competitions they took part in – be it the National Club Championships, NCU Club League or USSA National Championships. It was thus no surprise when 23-year-old, was rewarded with a full-time franchise contract and Student Cricketer of the Year gong.

Meanwhile, other Varsity Cricket alumni made strong claims in the categories they were nominated in without claiming the award.

No more so than Aiden Markram (Tuks 2015), who plundered 542 runs in just five Momentum One-Day Cup matches. However, the 2015 Varsity Cricket Player of the Tournament-turned-Protea was edged to the tournament’s award by his Titans teammate Junior Dala who claimed a remarkable 27 wickets for the champions.

Central Gauteng Lions’ Delano Potgieter (UJ 2015-18), who featured prominently among the best batsmen and bowlers in the Africa T20 Cup, also missed out – to Marco Marais of Border. Similarly, Cape Cobras duo David Bedingham (Maties 2015-16 and 2018) and Janneman Malan (NWU 2015-18) were edged by the Warriors’ Sinethemba Qeshile Domestic Newcomer of the Season award; as was the Warriors’ Edward Moore (Madibaz 2015-16) to the 4-Day Franchise Series award by Cape Cobras captain Dane Piedt.

Varsity Cricket 2019 once again takes place in Potchefstroom, from 2-7 September, and tickets to all the matches are available now – click here: https://varsitysportsa.plankton.mobi/

by Carlo Jonkerman