Nine years ago, Groot Drakenstein Games Club lost their captain, Alfie Cupido, on the field during a fixture against Western Province Cricket Club. Since that day, our annual home fixture against WPCC has been dubbed the Alfie Cupido Memorial Game. This year, the fixture was held on Sunday the 8th of December.

This game is always highly-anticipated, with both teams being very well acquainted with each other. WPCC were asked to bat first on a beautiful day with a pitch that looked like it would do a bit for the bowlers on the right length… and do a bit it did. Corrie Brand, who is typically Groot Drak’s unluckiest bowler, found the edge of Nick Zaiman’s bat with the first ball of the game – starting with a wicket maiden. A similar story from the other end, with Joubert Kotze picking up a wicket with the batsman chasing a wide one outside off. Corrie’s next over produced an unplayable delivery, which uprooted the stumps and WPCC found themselves three wickets down without a run on the board. Corrie Brand finished up 8 for 3 from his 5 over spell and Joubert Kotze; 15 for 2 from his 5. Both openers did more than what was required at the top before being replaced by Andri le Roux and Kudu Kotze.

The first-change bowlers did well, with Kudu (0/22 from 4) bowling up the hill & into the breeze, while Andri (1/9 from 4) picked up the WPCC skipper, Shane Eglinton cheaply.

Morne Maritz and Bruce Taylor were the only Groot Drak bowlers to get through their full quota of overs, with Bruce picking up a wicket for 46. Morne Maritz nabbed the two vital wickets of Derek Mitchell (22 from 35) and Shawn Dyson (55 from 58).

Adrian Raisbeck only had to bowl 4 deliveries before claiming Damian de Vos’ wicket to see the visitors bowled out for 145.

Not the biggest total, but the old adage of ‘runs on the board’ was in the back of everyone’s mind as Groot Drak started the run chase.
MC Uys did a sterling job at 1, scoring 34 from 33 deliveries. James Basson in his first match for the club looked good, but could only manage 4 from 3 before nicking one to slip from the bowling of Shane Eglinton.

Angus Simmers (7 from 10) and Adrian Raisbeck (9 from 12) fell quickly, bringing Craig McNaught (20 from 30) and Andri le Roux to the crease to attempt to steady the ship. It was looking like a formality until Andri (32 from 34), Corrie Brand (9 from 17), Kudu Kotze (9 from 7) and Morne Maritz (2 from 3) all threw their wickets away, while Matt Hart-Davis did the bulk of the damage to the Groot Drak middle order, ending with 3 from 16 from his 3 overs.

Requiring 8 to win with Joubert Kotze and Bruce Taylor at the crease, 9 wickets down, it was looking all over for the home side. Bruce Taylor got off the mark with a lofted straight drive over the bowler’s head to bring Groot Drak within 4.

WPCC captain, Shane Eglinton brought himself on to bowl in an attempt to wrap up what was turning out to be a nail-biting game.
Alfie was clearly looking down on the home side favourably as a straight delivery to Bruce Taylor found the inside edge of the bat and miraculously just missed leg stump as the ball limped to the fine leg boundary to seal the win for Groot Drak.

A wonderful day spent with a bunch of great cricketers who are quickly becoming good mates, was closed out with a swift fines meeting and a casual beer afterwards.

Here’s looking forward to the away leg in February next year!

Man of the Match: Corrie Brand (honourable mention: MC Uys and Andri le Roux)

Match report by Craig McNaught

On Saturday, the 30th of November it was time for the big derby game between Groot Drak and the Scorpions. A game that always provides big moments and bragging rights for the next 12 months. The Scorpions came to avenge their agonizing loss on their home field last season, but under the astute leadership of stand-in captain MC Uys, the Drakies were just too much for Scorpions.

As per usual, Corrie Brand (7 overs on the trot, 1 maiden for 22 runs) opened the bowling running down the hill and was extremely unlucky to be the only bowler of the day not taking a wicket. The tearaway youngster, Liam Carruthers, had to run uphill and bowled beautifully in partnership with Corrie. The youngster finished with figures of 1 for 17 in his 5 overs. Coming on first change Herman Fourie was a tad expensive, picking up 1 wicket for 31 runs in his 5 overs. Colin Myburgh replaced Corrie from the top and took 1 wicket for 2 runs in his first over, bowling out Dangerous Dave for 22 runs. As the dangerous Nico Ras made his way to the wicket, the captain showed his tactical genius by bringing Claude Chantler on to bowl the last over before drinks with the explicit instructions to make sure Nico Ras is back in the hut before drinks. The most attractive cricketer in Groot Drak’s history, Conrad Harley, took up position at cow corner with Claude tossing one up, Nico obliged by hitting it straight into the pair of safe hands of Conrad waiting for him on the boundary. Colin continued after drinks to finish with figures of 2/36 in 5 overs. Angus Simmers and Claude took over from Colin and Harry. Angus finishing with figures of 2/21 in 4 overs and Claude finishing with 2/22 in his allotted 7 overs getting rid of AD Visser who scored 51 vital runs. Conrad Harley (1/3 in 0.4 overs) brought the innings to a close by taking the last wicket.

After lunch the Drakies set about chasing the modest target of 161 in 35 overs. As per usual MC and Gary Seaman (21 runs of 32 balls) opened the batting. The Scorpions were very lucky to dismiss MC for 4 runs. In came the other youngster, JC Burger, who batted beautifully on debut to score 25 off 21 balls before being bowled. The attractive Conrad Harley, batting in his preferred number 5 spot, came in and batted beautifully to score 30 of 51 balls, steering the ship as Claude fell for 9, Herman for 2 and Colin for 6. Angus Simmers batted well to score 17 of 25 balls. Chairman, Jonathan Boulton (15 runs of 13 balls), smashed a six and a four. As expected Corrie made sure his six was the biggest of the day by smashing the first ball Andre bowled onto the roof of the clubhouse to get his team over the line and make sure that Groot Drak win the game by 2 wickets.

Playing in his last game for the club, Conrad Harley was dually awarded Man of the Match for his contributions on the field and the “TFC award” for his contributions off the field. All of the best for your next adventure and in the words of Gary Seaman, “wishing you all of the best for your new adventure Conrad, enjoy you beautiful man”.

Match report by Claude Chantler

On Saturday the 23rd of November, The Willburys travelled from far and wide to play against a Groot Drak side who were keen to level the scores after the drubbing they received 2 years ago.

The Willburys were sent in to bat after their skipper, James Carmichael introduced a new rule in to the fray: the first 22 overs of each innings had to see 11 different bowlers. To their own surprise, Gary Seaman and MC Uys were handed the new ball for the first 4 overs of the game.
Gary bowled well for his 0/9, while MC was in business with just his third delivery, trapping Matt McCormack in front for a duck and then catching Ed Lepine the very next ball, setting up a hat-trick chance that was not to be.

First change saw keeper-cum-swing-bowler-extraordinaire, Jono Boulton (2/9 from 2) nab two valuable wickets, including an impressive, full-stretch diving catch from MC Uys, while Sean Petzer chased leather, going for 21 in his 2 over spell.

Herman Fourie (1/19 from 6) was the pick of the bowlers and bowled a brilliant line and length in the middle overs, supported well by Moustache Maritz (0/19 from 2).

While a touch expensive, Colin Myburgh took 2 wickets, while Louwtjie Uys (0/17 from 2) helped out with his medium pace.

Claude Chantler decided to do away with his regular off-spin and bowled some seam-up for a change, which proved mighty effective, as he took 1/9 from 2.2 overs – his wicket being top-scorer, James Carmichael. Liam Carruthers (1/5 from 2) from the other end was far too accurate and had to be taken off after 2 overs, but had dangerous-looking Rob Pearce caught at gully with a brilliant reflex catch from Claude Chantler.

Craig McNaught had no choice but to bowl a few overs and surprised everyone, taking a wicket and going for just 14 from his first 4 overs and then returning to his usual self, by donating 12 runs off his last over.

The Willburys were bowled out in the last over of the innings for a very competitive 204 runs.

After a quick bite and a salute to the Groot Drak flag, the boys were ready for what promised to be a tough run chase.

MC Uys and Claude Chantler opened the batting and both batted with flair to put the home side well in the driving seat, with MC making 32 from 36 and Claude being run out just one run shy of his 50 from only 32 balls.

Loutjie Uys fought hard for his 3 runs, while Liam Carruthers was promoted to number 4 and had a real chance to score some proper runs for the club. From ball one, Liam looked settled and played some glorious shots all over the park, while Morne Maritz wasted no time and smashed a quick 30 from 22 before being given out LBW.

Jono Boulton was not out for 12 from 13, while Liam earned an incredibly well-deserved 51* from 48, his first half-century for the club, which earned him Man-of-the-Match, as Groot Drak romped to victory with 10 overs to spare.

A quick beer to honour the pitch and both teams settled in for some side-splitting fines, largely dominated by Mike ‘Fun’ Tonder.

After fines, all the players and some of their partners sat down to an awesome dinner prepared expertly by Lejean Pieterse and Sarah Boulton – cooked by braai-master Colin Myburgh.

A wonderful day of cricket and camaraderie came to an end after a few bottles of wine and plenty of laughs. We look forward to hosting the Willburys any and every time they find themselves in our part of the world.

Man-of-the-Match: Liam Carruthers
TFC: Sean Petzer
Pacman: Louwtjie Uys

Having called off the previous weekend’s fixture due to foul weather, Groot Drak were chuffed to see clear skies on the morning of Sunday 03 November. After watching the Springboks’ famous World Cup victory over England in the final the day before, both teams were in high spirits and looking forward to a great day on the field.

Gardens Old Boys were sent in to bat and did well to survive the initial few overs with Liam Carruthers and Joubert Kotze bowling extremely well. Joubert (14/0 from 6) bowled better than his figures suggest and he deserved a couple of wickets. Liam picked up both opening batsmen in his 6 overs and went for just 15 runs.

The birthday Bruce was brought on first change to introduce some spin in to the game. While a touch expensive, Bruce Taylor took four important wickets, including a sensational caught-and-bowled, going through his seven overs for 30 runs.

Kudu Kotze bowled some very tidy leg spin for a change, also hanging on to a great caught-and-bowled for 18 runs in his 6 over spell.

Rob Frater was introduced in to the attack for just half an over before taking the final two wickets to see the innings closed out for 77 runs.

A short lunch break while re-watching the highlights of the rugby and Groot Drak openers, MC Uys and Gary Seaman, started the run chase.

MC (8 from 11) was dismissed early, while Gary (30 from 19) batted with uncharacteristic urgency to put the home side securely in the driving seat.

Thiery Milot, in his final game for the club, played a great knock, posting his top score of 24 from 25 deliveries.

The sports Gods were smiling on the birthday boy, as Bruce and his new bat put on 12 unbeaten runs from 14 balls.

Robbie Frater struggled for form, having been out of the fray for some time, managing a hard-fought single from 9, while Conrad Harley set up a hat-trick chance for the opposition by earning a golden duck. Skipper, Craig McNaught (1 not out from 3), did his best to oblige the visitors by edging his first ball straight to slip, but the chance went begging!

A few balls later and Bruce punched a ball to the boundary securing a comfortable win for Groot Drak after just 14 overs.

A quick drink to honour the pitch and the youngsters set up for fines. Some rather average performances were noted, while the exceptional performances were celebrated and a rather lengthy fines meeting was finally brought to a close.

Man of the Match went to Bruce Taylor for his heroics with both bat and ball, while TFC went to Conrad Harley.

While not the closest game ever played at the club, both teams thoroughly enjoyed each others’ company and we look forward to seeing the Gardens Old Boys very soon!

The Groot Drak cricketers don’t play many away games, but when we do, we make it count. On Saturday the 29th of October, we headed 170kms North to the farming town of Citrusdal to take on the local cricket team there, in a bus kindly lent to us by long-standing member, Eddie Cloete. After checking in to our accommodation and smashing a breakfast at Kardoesie (aka Carduccio’s), the boys were ready for action.

Relishing the opportunity to toss for a change, we won the toss and elected to bat first – something that Groot Drak doesn’t get to do often.

MC Uys (33 from 32) and Thiery Milot (10 from 17) opened the batting for Groot Drak and started well, before losing Thiery, followed shortly by Danie van der Nest (0 from 4).

Claude Chantler batted for the majority of the innings and did extremely well to score his first ever fifty (55 from 65) for Groot Drak, while Morne Maritz (15 from 9), Jono Boulton (14 from 47) and Adrian Raisbeck (13 from 9) pitched in with some valuable runs before we were bowled out for 178.

Groot Drak managed 3 ducks in their innings and everyone felt that another 20 or 30 runs would have made for a par score.

A brief break after the innings and the bowlers were ready to make up for some below-par batting performances. Corrie Brand and Danie van der Nest bowled two of the more impressive spells of quick bowling that we’ve seen from them. Corrie bowled 3 maidens and only went for 9 runs in his 7 overs and picked up a wicket, while Danie took two wickets for 10 runs in his 5 overs.

Morne Maritz (13 for 2 from 5) and Adrian Raisbeck (6 for 4 from 4) continued the trend, bowling exceptionally well and taking wickets regularly.

Sean Petzer rolled his arm over with some rare leg-spin that actually turned – nabbing his first wicket for the club and ending up with figures of 11 for 1 from 4. Theiry Milot was not as fortunate, being hit for 38 runs from his two overs.

Claude Chantler bowled just one over, which was a maiden, before the innings was tied up, with Citrusdal managing only 88 runs, seeing Groot Drak log a comfortable victory in the end.

A quick beer and a shower and the boys took their places for what is always an epic fines meeting. Some understood the rules better than others, but a great time was had by all. The festivities went on well in to the night as both teams enjoyed an evening that will not be forgotten quickly.

Man-of-the-match went to Claude Chantler for his great knock. TFC went to Jan Hendrik. The Pacman award was awarded to Sean Petzer for his 1 run from 12 deliveries and Adrian Raisbeck claimed the lifesaver for his fantastic display of swing bowling.

Thanks to John Sinclair and Citrusdal CC for being amazing hosts as always – we look forward to returning the favour next season.