Things I Did Not Like In Varsity Cricket

I caught a few Varsity Cricket matches and I must say I was half impressed. I wanted to watch more but I was drenched in Momentum One Day Cup glory. Anyway, this is based on what I saw and seen by those around me.

I won’t say it was a flop because it wasn’t. Instead, UP-Tuks would probably kill me for any negative comments I might make. I do know how to give credit where credit is due and I believe UP-Tuks played remarkable cricket. They never took their eye on the prize. So congratulations to the Inaugural 2015 Varsity Cricket Champions!!!

IMMEDIACY

Some might have appreciated the immediacy in Varsity Cricket but I certainly did not. Too much cricket cramped into 5 days in Potchefstroom. Maybe that’s why some teams were struggling to score runs, they were exhausted. Continuous days of 20 over cricket in the blazing sun are not child’s play. You can go outside for 1 minute and return showing signs of heatstroke.

I missed a lot of the matches; maybe if they were spaced out more, or more days were dedicated to it like Varsity Rugby and Varsity Football, I could have watched more.

TROPHY

Through the telly the trophy looked beautiful, I actually loved it. But, I have a few complaints. When it was handed to UP-Tuks, it looked small. It needs to be a bit bigger, just by a few centimetres. Plus, why was it written CHAMPION instead if CHAMPIONS?

ADVERTISING

Last year when the tournament was first advertised, I was well aware of when it will take place. However, closer to the date, I hardly saw any ads that reminded me that the tournament is close. The people in charge of adverts should do a better job at promoting the tournament. For instance, if someone who sits in front of the telly all day watching sports did not know about Varsity Cricket until it began, how would someone who spends all day at work know about it?

CAPS

Every tournament usually has sponsors and Varsity Cricket wasn’t any different. Varsity Cricket was sponsored by electronic company SAMSUNG, clothing store Edgars active, food chain STEERS and bank FNB. Mentioning these brands brings me to my next point. With such names on the cricket kits, how come cricketers who played exceptionally well were only handed caps for their efforts?

UJ

I went to UJ, so I know about orange overload. The UJ cricket team looked like designer prisoners. They need to tone down the orange. No offence to the person or people who came up with that kit but wow – headlights. The little design on the side was beautiful. Maybe a black kit with the orange emblem would have looked a whole lot better. Instead of the little design, the two orange birds on the emblem would look sweet. Or you can ignore my suggestions and go the ECB route. The same tops but different coloured trousers.

I won’t even get into what I think of those umpire shirts. I think everyone can draw their own conclusions.

Australia 4-1 South Africa (ODIs)

So it's written in the books, Australia won the series 4-1 and claimed the number one spot in One Day Internationals (ODIs).

South Africa only won 1 match, the second match, the rest, who knows what happened. I don't know how I feel about the series defeat. I'm actually on the fence with this one. The ICC Cricket World Cup is a couple of months away.

Was it a good idea to play Australia so close to the event?

Has the defeat made South Africa lose momentum?

Or, has it made South Africa open their eyes and make them think of possible solutions before the World Cup?

Were South Africa's efforts enough?

Anyway, Australia posted two scores of 300+. South Africa could only get as close as 280. The match South Africa won, Australia posted 154 all out. Although South Africa won by 3 wickets (with 134 balls remaining), Australia had begun ripping the South African tail apart and South Africa faced a similar fate as Australia, so close to the target.

Skippers lead from the front and that's what AB de Villiers did. He grabbed the reigns and did what he had to for South Africa. In only 4 matches, de Villiers finished as the highest run scorer with 271 runs, a high score of 91, an average of 67.75 and a strike rate of 113.38. Moreover, he scored 3 half centuries and hit 24 fours and 2 sixes. If he featured in the last ODI, he could've passed 300 runs.

De Villiers also made 80 runs from 76 balls hitting 4 fours and 1 six at a strike rate of 105.26. In another match, he made 52 runs from 34 balls hitting 6 fours and 1 six at a strike rate of 152.94.

Quinton de Kock and Hashim Amla were the only South Africans to score centuries in the series. De Kock made 107 runs from 123 balls, smashing 14 fours at a strike rate of 86.99. That was his sixth one day international hundred and de Kock was the only South African to score a century in Sydney. He also moved up the ODI rankings to a career high 7th position. On his 101 ODI appearance, Amla scored 102 runs from 115 balls, hitting 9 fours at a strike rate of 88.69.

In the 5 ODIs, only 3 South Africans were dismissed by a duck - Farhaan Behardien, Ryan McLaren and Vernon Philander. At least each was dismissed once.

In 4 matches, Morne Morkel finished as the highest wicket taker with 10 wickets, which was secured by his 5-wicket haul in the second ODI with career best figures of 5-21. Unfortunately, he conceded 230 runs.

Dale Steyn wasn't far behind with 7 wickets in 4 matches, with a best of 3-35 and gave away 197 runs to the Australians. Although he didn't take any 4 or 5 wicket hauls, he was the third highest wicket taker.

1st ODI: Australia v South Africa at Perth - Nov 14, 2014

Australia 300/8 (50/50 ov); South Africa 268 (48.1/50 ov)

Australia won by 32 runs

In the first ODI, never before had a team made 300+ to win a one-day international at the WACA, and in the end South Africa didn't get especially close. However, de Villiers and David Miller put on 126 for the fifth wicket. Miller struck 5 fours and 1 six. During their stand, de Villiers was given lbw off Mitchell Marsh for 13 but had the decision overturned and went on to score his half-century.

George Bailey was dropped twice on 2 and was dropped again while on 39 and later when he was on 47. The bowlers bowled well but the fielders - let's not even go there.

2nd ODI: Australia v South Africa at Perth - Nov 16, 2014

Australia 154 (41.4/50 ov); South Africa 157/7 (27.4/50 ov)

South Africa won by 3 wickets (with 134 balls remaining)

In the second ODI, Morne Morkel and AB de Villiers sealed the second ODI for South Africa at the WACA. Morkel's career-best 5 for 21 ended Australia's innings on 154. A quick 48 runs from 41 balls by de Villiers pushed South Africa closer to victory. Once again, David Miller and de Villiers moved the score towards the target.

Unfortunately, Hazlewood dismissed de Villiers just two balls shy of a half century.

3rd ODI: Australia v South Africa at Canberra - Nov 19, 2014

Australia 329/5 (50/50 ov); South Africa 256 (44.3/50 ov)

Australia won by 73 runs

In every innings AB de Villiers was the rock for South Africa. After he lost his wicket in the 3rd ODI, South Africa lost 6 wickets for 32 runs.

Imran Tahir couldn't produce the economy de Villiers wanted. So the skipper swapped him for Farhaan Behardien and himself, with mixed results. Behardien removed Shane Watson while de Villiers was more expensive but took the wicket of Aaron Finch.

4th ODI: Australia v South Africa at Melbourne - Nov 21, 2014

South Africa 267/8 (50/50 ov); Australia 268/7 (49/50 ov)

Australia won by 3 wickets (with 6 balls remaining)

Moving himself to No.4 in the 4th ODI, AB de Villiers scored 91 runs from 88 balls. Together with David Miller, they had a 122-run stand.

Only 51 runs came from the final 10 overs for the loss of four wickets; their 8 for 267 could've have been more.

5th ODI: Australia v South Africa at Sydney - Nov 23, 2014

South Africa 280/6 (50/50 ov); Australia 275/8 (47.1/48 ov, target: 275)

Australia won by 2 wickets (with 5 balls remaining) (D/L method)

In the final ODI Hashim Amla was named skipper while AB de Villiers was suffering from a rib injury. Dale Steyn was rested and was replaced by Morne Morkel.

Left-arm spinner Robin Peterson finished with figures of 32-4 with an economy of 5.18 in 6.1 overs. He took quick wickets, which gave South Africa hope of a victory.

Quinton de Kock had played with poise and timing to guide the visitors' innings, receiving decent support from Rilee Rossouw, who had been included in de Villiers' place. Farhaan Behardien chimed in with a free-wheeling 63 at the finish.

Rilee Rossouw played diligently in support of de Kock, and looked good for more than his 51 when he lost his wicket.

Mitchell Johnson claims two LG ICC Awards

The 11th year of the LG ICC Awards announced the winners via a media release earlier today. However, a special TV show will be broadcast tomorrow. The show will be hosted by former South Africa captain Graeme Smith and will feature interviews with the nominees and the winners.

Sir Garfield Sobers Trophy for the ICC Cricketer of the Year

Mitchell Johnson

Test Cricketer of the Year

Mitchell Johnson

Australian bowler Mitchell Johnson was named winner of the Sir Garfield Sobers Trophy for ICC Cricketer of the Year and ICC Test Cricketer of the Year.

Since the inception of the LG ICC Awards in 2004, Mitchell Johnson became the second cricketer to win the Sir Garfield Sobers Trophy for the ICC Cricketer of the Year twice, after Ricky Ponting. Johnson is also the third Australian after Ponting (2006) and Michael Clarke (2013) to win the ICC Test Cricketer of the Year award.

In only 8 Tests, Johnson claimed 59 wickets at an average of 15.23. This included two 5-wicket hauls and one 10-wicket haul. In one day cricket, he took 21 wickets in 16 matches at an average of 33.04 with an economy rate of under five runs per over.

After receiving the awards, Johnson said, “Some of the greats of the game have been nominated and won this award and it’s a very special honour."

“Aggressive fast bowlers are something you’d have seen back in the day with the likes of (Dennis) Lillee and (Jeff) Thomson. For me, it’s nice to be able to contribute to the team and do the job that I’ve always thought I’ve been able to do. I suppose it comes down to the attitude I’ve got, the belief and the confidence. I’m very happy with where I am at the moment and I want to keep getting better as a cricketer."

“This is something that I’ll be able to look back on in time when my career is over and be exceptionally proud of. I want to thank everyone for their support, especially my team-mates, support staff and my family for everything they’ve done for me. I wouldn’t be sitting here today without them.”

Women’s ODI Cricketer of the Year

Sarah Taylor

ODI Cricketer of the Year

AB de Villiers

AB de Villiers smashed 963 runs in 20 One Day Internationals at an average just above 60.

ICC Emerging Cricket of the Year

Gary Ballance

Gary Ballance claimed his first-ever ICC award as a player under the age of 26, who played less than 5 Tests and/or 10 ODIs at the start of the voting period.

ICC Associate & Affiliate Cricketer

Preston Mommsen

T20 International Performance of the Year

Aaron Finch

Aaron Finch’s 156 runs from 63 balls against England, in the ICC World Twenty20 Bangladesh 2014.

Women’s T20 Cricketer of the Year

Meg Lanning

ICC Spirit of Cricket Award

Katherine Brunt (England)

Katherine Brunt won the ICC Spirit of Cricket award, for sportingly asking for a referral when a South Africa batter was adjudged to have been given out caught and the decision was subsequently reversed.

Brunt ran out South Africa's Matshipi Letsoalo but called her back and told the on-field umpire she was not sure if the ball was definitely in her hand when she dislodged the bails.

Having checked the television replay, the third umpire subsequently reversed the decision and Letsoalo continued her innings.

ICC Umpire of the Year (winning the David Shepherd Trophy)

Richard Kettleborough

Richard Kettleborough of the Emirates Elite Panel of ICC Umpires won the David Shepherd Trophy for ICC Umpire of the Year for the second consecutive year.

Bhuvaneshwar Kumar won the LG Peoples Choice Award

ICC ODI Team of the Year

Mohammad Hafeez, Quinton de Kock, Virat Kohli, George Bailey, AB de Villiers, MS Dhoni (c & wk), Dwayne Bravo, James Faulkner, Dale Steyn, Mohammad Shami, Ajantha Mendis and Rohit Sharma (12th)

ICC Test Team of the Year

David Warner, Kane Williamson, Kumar Sangakkara, AB de Villiers+, Joe Root, Angelo Mathews*, Mitchell Johnson, Stuart Broad, Dale Steyn, Rangana Herath, Tim Southee and Ross Taylor (12th)