Basking in glory of the World Cup

POLOKWANE – When it comes to action cricket, Australia has been a dominant force on the world stage.

However, South Africa’s over 35 action cricket team settled the score last week when they beat the team from Down Under convincingly at the World Cup Tournament in Johannesburg.

Two players from Polokwane, Pierre Bloem and Andrew Galloway did Limpopo proud by helping their team walk away with the laurels.

Bloem, who was the vice-captain of the South African team was also named best overall player in this age group.

This was the first time in Action Cricket World Cup history that Australia’s over 35 team lost the title, which made South Africa’s victory even sweeter.

Although Bloem and Galloway were both in their team’s starting line-up, they were sidelined with injuries going into the final game.

However, their team’s sterling performance still ensured their return to Polokwane with gold medals.

Six teams competed for the over 35 crown and played 13 games each. England, Sri-Lanka, Singapore, Australia, South Africa and a South African invitational side battled it out for the honours.

Bloem and Galloway said this victory was definitely worth their while because their team started training together as early as February this year.

“Who would have thought that we would be world champs? It just shows that other players in this sport in Limpopo should never give up hope because there is always hope. They must just believe in their abilities,” Galloway said.

Galloway said he has been involved in this sport for 20 years, while Bloem said he has been playing action cricket for the past 18 years.

The next World Cup Tournament will be held in New Zealand in 2016.