The success of the Varsity Cup rugby competition gave an opportunity for other sporting codes to also follow the same model with the country’s top universities batting it for top spot. In February 2015 the debut of the Varsity Cricket tournament in Potchefstroom, gave young and upcoming cricketers the chance to showcase their talent on live television in this tournament. These cricketers who shined so brightly in the first edition of the tournament, went on to play franchise cricket as well as represent their country at various levels. It is thus no coincidence that the Varsity Cricket tournament provided cricketers with a platform to grow in the game.
The first tournament saw a strong Tuks team win the tournament with a 5 wicket win against Maties in the final. This a team that included current Proteas, Heinrich Klaasen, Aiden Markram and Lungi Ngidi amongst others, it was hard to see Tuks not getting their hands on the trophy. This was also the start of Tuks’ dominance in the competition, winning the past four of five editions, only missing out in 2017. This was when the NWU finally triumphed over Tuks by 4 wickets in a pulsating final. 
In the inaugural 2015 edition, hosts, NWU-Pukke bowed out in the semi-final against Maties by 4 wickets. This was a game in Pukke’s control, but needless run out’s including that of Janneman Malan on 99, effectively halted their surge to a larger total of 200 runs. Pukke managed 177/7, but Maties claimed a superb win thanks largely to Maties captain, Dewald Botha hitting a quick-fire 80 (48). The top run-scorer of the 2015 edition was Jean Marais (Maties) who hit 347 runs with a top score of 107*. Tuks’ Murray Coetzee (292) and Aiden Markram (260) of Tuks were also some of the top performer with the bat.
Wihan Lubbe was the top scorer for the NWU-Pukke with 235 runs at an average of 29.38 and strike rate of 121. It is also quite interesting that Lubbe was the only NWU batsman in the top 20 run scorers during the tournament, showcasing the heavy reliance on his runs. In the bowling department, Niel Botha (Maties) impressed with his off spin bowling picking up 19 wickets. The top bowler for Tuks was Ruben Claassen with 16 wickets. Jovaun van Wyngaardt took 16 wickets for Pukke at an average of 11.69. Bjorn Fortuin also chipped in with 9 wickets for the home side.
It is amazing to see the number of talented cricketers that participated in the first tournament in that week of cricket mania in Potchefstroom.
Here is a list of players that participated in Varsity Cricket 2015 who then represented SA or competed at franchise level:
Tuks: Heinrich Klaasen, Aiden Markram, Corbin Bosch, Lungi Ngidi, Jacques Snyman
NMU: Edward Moore, Anrich Nortje, Onye Nyaku, Solo Nqweni, Stefan Tait
NWU-Pukke: Marques Ackerman, Wihan Lubbe, Andre Malan, Janneman Malan, Bjorn Fortuin, Kagiso Rapulana
UFS: Corne Dry, Leus du Plooy, Michael Erlank, Andries Gous
UJ: Grant Roeloefsen, Delano Potgieter, Yaseen Valli
University of Stellenbosch: Isma-eel Gafaldien
