The 2019 Matthew Prior Cricket Festival was a weekend of cricket that truly honoured its naming origin.

The annual cricket festival is hosted every year by Uplands Preparatory in memory of Matthew John Prior. He passed away while opening the batting for Uplands Prep 1st XI in Lydenburg on September 16, 2010.

This year saw 13 teams participate in the sixth edition of the festival. It started off on Friday with teams playing 40-over cricket. On Saturday all teams played two T20s, followed by a trip to the Kruger National Park, during which all the players were able to have private guided tours on open safari vehicles. The teams played in a Super 6s tournament on Sunday which saw the King Edward VII Prep School u/12A team emerge victorious.

The festival honours Matthew’s memory, and celebrates his life and the spirit in which he played cricket. Cricket was played in true festival style, with no emphasis on winning at all costs, but rather developing and fostering lasting relationships.

Uplands Prep 1st XI, senior XI and u/11A teams as well as Moose Cricket Academy’s u/11 team participated.

From Gauteng, Hatfield Christian School, KEPS, St Dunstan’s Prep School 1st XI and u/12A, Trinity House Little Falls 1st XI, Tyger Valley College 1st XI as well as Waterkloof House Prep School second and third XIs took part. Northlands Primary School 1st XI from the KwaZulu-Natal North Coast also played.