On the banks of the Mooirivier, 120km South-West of Johannesburg, lies the North-West Province’s “Home of Sport”. And for one week in January – South African universities’ unofficial “Home of Cricket”. Potchefstroom welcomed eight of South Africa’s top universities to return in 2016, as they set up house in cricket’s home.
The competition was so well received and hosted to such great effect that Varsity Sports didn’t want to deviate too much from the winning formula of Varsity Cricket.
However, in a country hungry for change and progression, Varsity Sports aims to be at the forefront of innovation in sport and enhanced a few existing elements of Varsity Cricket.
The Power Plus over introduced in 2015 was a huge hit, allowing batting teams to double their points during one over, when they opted to take the Power Plus. In 2016, an amendment was made to allow the fielding team to select which bowler would bowl the Power Plus over.
“I think it made it far more interesting,” said Murray Coetzee, Tuks’ winning captain. “Last year the spinners were always targeted during the Power Plus over, but this year it was more competitive and some fielding teams had more of an advantage in the over than batting teams did.”
Bowling sides would lose five runs should a wicket fall during the Power Plus over. In the opening round of Varsity Cricket 2016, JJ van Wyk of Kovsies took a hat-trick during the Power Plus over against NMMU, which meant the batting team lost 15 runs – testimony to the value of the rule change.
The Samsung phone targets, placed on opposite sides of the boundary, would reward the batsmen 10 runs should they manage to hit the target. This year, for the first time in cricket history, a player successfully hit a 10.
After witnessing the enthusiasm around NWU’s Rag Week in 2015, it was decided to shift the tournament to coincide with Rag Week, in order to work in unison with the university and its students to add to the thrill of the popular event. Varsity Sports invited student residences to attend matches and join in on the Varsity Cricket gees at Senwes Park.
“The whole town of Potch embraced us warmly,” said Varsity Sports CEO, Duitser Bosman. “The facilities at Senwes Park are world class and the NWU Puk Sports Village, where all eight teams were hosted for the week, is of such a high quality that international athletes choose to train and stay there.
“The players raved about the experience and professionalism that they experienced during the week. We can’t imagine holding the tournament anywhere else in the country.”
Champions: UP Tuks
Edgars Active Best Batsman of the Tournament: Evan Jones (Tuks)
FNB Best Bowler of the Tournament: Vincent Moore (Tuks)
Steers Best Catch of the Tournament: Soyisile Pono (Maties)
Samsung Player of the Tournament: Wihan Lubbe (Pukke)
Here are a few comparisons between the 2015 and 2016 Varsity Cricket competitions:
