UCT Ikeys are unsure whether or not their coach, Ryan Maron will be accompanying them to the inaugural Varsity Cricket tournament in Potchefstroom from 3-8 February.
Maron is the founder of the Cricket School of Excellence in Cape Town, which has been successfully running for the past 14 years, and has recently been appointed as the fielding coach of the Afghanistan National Team as they ready themselves to travel to Australasia for the Cricket World Cup.
Manager Chris Ekron is currently holding down the fort and says their current squad of 22 players has a great mixture of upcoming young talent and experienced players.
“It’s exciting to be part of Varsity Cricket and we are looking forward to playing in it. It’s a really well organised event and the guys with exciting innovations.
“We currently have 22 players in the squad which includes a few new guys coming through from school cricket who we are really excited about. One such player is the big-hitting Alex Whitelaw from Westville Boys High School, who has made a name for himself in the 20-over format.
“As far as more experienced players go, we have the likes of Jack Newby who was recently selected into the National Universities side. The exciting Seb Golding will be our captain at the tournament and it will be interesting to see his leadership qualities come to the fore,” he told varsitysportssa.com.
There has been much talk around the innovations which has become synonymous with Varsity Sports and Ekron believes the ones which will be implemented at Varsity Cricket adds more flavour to the already exciting 20-over format.
“The 20-over format is exciting in itself, so adding the Power Play Plus Over into Varsity Cricket will add a bit more excitement to the tournament. It’s something different and will, other than the usual action, will be a major draw card to attract big crowds and increase the game’s excitement.
“If you look at the Varsity Cup, there are always new innovations which makes the tournaments different and I think the new innovations makes the competition more exciting. The more traditional guys will have their reservations about it but I enjoy it and it will be exciting to see how it pans out,” he added.
With the top eight universities in the country participating in the tournament, Ekron believes any of the sides has a good chance of claiming top honours as the format is such that it will come down to who executes their skills the best on the day.
“It’s going to be a tough competition. T20 is one of those formats where it comes down to who executes their skills the best on the day. It does help to have played a few games and have players who have played the format before, but the main influence on the outcome of the game will be the execution of skills,” he stated.
Half of the current have experience of playing in Potchefstroom when they participated at the 2013 USSA Cricket Week and will surely pass down some much needed advice to the rest of the players.
“Half the squad will have experience of playing in Potch but I think the wickets will be similar to those in Johannesburg. Senwes Park will have the best wicket and outfield but I don’t think the other venues will be too different.
“It will be very well prepared as I’m sure the groundsmen have put in plenty of time on making sure they are ready,” Ekron said.
