Wits University Cricket Clubs meteoric rise into Central Gauteng Lions Cricket Premier League
- Sharmin Naidoo
The Wits University Cricket Club has finished the 2020/21 CGL Premier League Cricket season in 3rd place beating the University of Johannesburg in the 3rd/4th Place playoff in what was an incredible local derby with Wits beating their local rivals in the 50 over competition for the first time in 27 years.
“The rise of the Wits University Cricket Club in the CGL Cricket Premier League has been nothing short of phenomenal given the time frame in which it has happened. I arrived at Wits in August 2018 with the aim of creating a formula for the cricket club to reach new heights. The University’s first team was consistently finishing mid table in the CGL Premier B League and participating in the USSA Cricket B Section. Together with the support of former head coach, Garnet Kruger, and current head coach, Bongani Ntini, we set out to get the team back into the CGL Premier A League and the USSA Cricket A Section. The initial plan was simple. We wanted to control the things we could control first. Ensuring we played and trained on top class facilities, enhancing our high performance training program which included an organised strength and conditioning component, we began to instil important traditional cricket and team values, we endeavoured to recruit the best possible student athletes and human beings into the system and we made sure we looked good on and off the field. It wasn’t easy but all the hard work in year one meant we managed to get promoted to the CGL Prem A League within our first year of the transformation process. We then finished our first season in the CGL Prem A League (2019/2020) in 5th place (out of 12 teams) which was an incredible feat with a new look Wits Cricket 1st XI which included many new first year students. The team also reached the final of the 2019 USSA Cricket B Section Tournament but the match vs Kovsies was unfortunately rained out in a week of heavy rainfall in Johannesburg. The cricket season 2020/21 started off with a close loss to Jeppe Quondam Cricket Club (eventual 2020/21 league winners) but saw the club reach its best ever finish in 27 years and going unbeaten for the rest of the season.” Sharmin Naidoo, Head of Cricket, Wits University.
“Due to the Covid-19 pandemic our cricket season was shorter than normal but that didn't take away the excitement from being back to playing again. This season also saw an additional Wits team join the CGL SU4 league. They finished top of their group and narrowly lost in the league final. The rest of our teams play in the CGL Premier league A (1st team which finished 3rd), CGL President League A (2nd team) who lost in the finals and our CGL SU2 (3rd team) who finished 4th.
The management staff have been superb working behind the scenes. Smooth operations, recruitment and meeting the day to day needs of players and staff for me was the key to our success. The players also bought into the new structure and philosophy of doing things.
Our goal going into the new season will be on making sure we retain players, making sure that everyone understands our process and are in line with what we looking to achieve, and recruit well. How we look and how we play has been a big part our success and would like to improve on this in the coming season as it tells a better story of who we are to the future Witsies. We are looking to win the CGL Premier A league this coming season and qualify for Varsity Cricket. Key players to look out for next season will be Sebastien De Oliveira, Juan Landsburg, Haydan Bowman, Connor Esterhuizen and Tetelo Maphaka.” Bongani Ntini – Wits Cricket Head Coach.
Recruiting the best personnel, setting realistic goals and training hard to achieve those goals are key to any successful organisation. The Wits University Cricket Club has certainly got the ball spinning in the right direction and the future looks bright on the Walter Milton Cricket Oval