Howzat for junior cricket

With Covid-19  putting paid to a lot of school sport, cricket with coach Robbie Coutts at Port Shepstone Country Club on Friday afternoons has been a highlight for many young boys on the South Coast.

There was quite an exciting finish to the final session for the year in December.

Sixteen players took part – a number were away for various reasons – and so the match ended up being eight-a-side. Earlier in the day the younger boys, still playing with a softer ball, experienced the opportunity to play a match.

Well, kind of.

For the hard ball match, most of the boys were aged between nine and 11 years old, and they displayed varying degrees of skill and experience. During the year they have engaged in net and drill training, with the occasional match out in the middle always a highlight.

Some of the older boys enjoyed a recent trip to Pietermaritzburg, where they stayed in the Maritzburg College hostel for a night, and played two games.

Unfortunately, these were rain affected but still the boys had a wonderful time and gained some great experience.

Coach Coutts, who has the patience of Job, said he hoped to get more matches going for the youngsters for next year, with the possibility of playing some on Saturday mornings, if there was sufficient interest.

Sessions for the new year are expected to start again this Friday.

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