UWC have immediately adopted the new innovations, that will be in play at the inaugural Varsity Cricket tournament held in Potchefstroom from 3-8 February, in their preparations for the event.
The final 14 players are yet to be selected and the potential representatives have had a taste of the Power Play Plus Over in two warm-up games played on Thursday.
The man at the helm of the Bellville-based students will be former Proteas bowler Charl Langeveldt but as he is currently with the National side, who are involved in a series against the West Indies, manager Chezley Fortuin has been keeping a close eye on the squad.
Fortuin remained tightlipped about who their potential new recruits will be but has hinted at two specific players who will hopefully be made available to the institution for the Varsity Cricket tournament.
“The final squad is yet to be finalised, so there are still spots available for some players to put their hands up and make a claim for themselves. We are in the process of getting our first years registered as soon as we can and we are hoping to secure a few more exciting young players early next week.
“We have two youngsters who are currently doing duty with the Western Province Amateur side, Lesiba Ngoepe and Jason Smith. So we need to finalise their availability for the tournament. We are definitely hopeful that Lizaad Williams, who is currently doing duty for the Cobras, will be released to us for Varsity Cricket.
“It is a Cricket South Africa directive that as many amateur and franchise players are involved with the Varsity Cricket event, so hopefully they are released for that week,” he told varsitysportssa.com.
The manager believes the introduction of the Power Play Plus Over will help the bowlers develop their skills faster, as each of them will now need to be able to bowl in that situation. Fortunately for the students, they have arguably the best exponent of death bowling in the country in their coaching staff.
“The game, and more specifically the 20-over format, has become such that every bowler needs to be able to bowl at the death, especially since the Power Play Plus Over will only be called once the bowler has reached the top of his run-up. So, there’s no chance for the captain to change the bowler, which means all the bowlers need to be skillful enough to bowl in that specific over,” he added.
Even though, the bowlers have their role to play in the game, the odds are still heavily stacked in the batsmen’s favour and Fortuin believes that utilising the Power Play Plus Over at the correct time will determine the outcome of the game.
“The Power Play Plus Over will make the game more exciting but it needs to be utilised properly. It’s a good innovation because with that, and the square targets, you never out of the game even if you still require 50 runs off the final couple of overs.
“If you take the over at that stage and manage to hit the target, it means you score 20 runs off one ball, which swings the momentum your way again. So it keeps the game more exciting and the side batting second will always feel like they are still in the contest,” he said.
