The Chronicle 2022

U16C U15A U15B U15C U14A U14B U14C U14D Total:

6

1 4 6 6 5

0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1

5 7 6 5 7 2 3 0

prepared for the working world and any situation after cricket.”

11 12 11 12 13 12

Words of thanks to the departing staff who have imparted the ethos of our cricket club and who have coached and mentored our young men: to Paul McKay who has been a stalwart for the mighty fifth team, who leaves us to go to Clifton Durban; to Mark Blew who has given so much cricket knowledge to our U15B team, we wish him well at Uplands College; and to a good club man, Cameron Barry who coached the U15C team, travel safely abroad.

11

9 5

5

156

84

71

Special acknowledgement must be made of both Richard McMichael and Dean Forword.

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e are very blessed at Michaelhouse to have the most stunning facilities available upon which to play this wonderful game of cricket. Our ground staff made massive improvements in our pitches over the course of the year. According to ESPN CricInfo: “A good pitch is one that provides a contest between bat and ball and hopefully a close finish.” By this definition Marius Henn, Graeme Nothard and Meshack Khumalo have created not only good pitches but are in the process of creating world class facilities. We cannot thank them enough for all their hard work and management in trying conditions to always have pitches prepared and nets available for practices. Michaelhouse also boasts some very skilful and dedicated coaches who coach boys the fine art of cricket, and even more importantly the life skills cricket has to offer. This is highlighted below by an exerpt of a passage written by one of our U14A coaches (Jayden Gengan) to his cricket boys this season: “Cricket is an art form. It is beautiful, simple and at the same time, agonisingly technical. The sport is more than just massive scores and nail-biting standoffs between two teams; what comes out of it is the abstract knowledge that we can take into the working world for those that may not pursue the sport thereafter. The values learnt, the friendships made, and the respect built for one another is what is left within the hearts of every cricketer who understands that at the end of the day, we are all one human race. We need to treat each other with the compassion and empathy that we would expect others to give us in return. Cricket creates skilful and self-aware individuals that will be

Mr McMichael is part of the woodwork at Michaelhouse and has been an invaluable member of the Cricket Club. He has coached the third team for as many years as anyone can remember. In that time, he grew the reputation of a fierce competitor and a coach who got the most out of every boy in his team. He is a character of the club, and we cannot thank him enough for his service to Michaelhouse cricket and wish him all the best for his semi-retirement. If there ever was a man that was the epitome of what cricket at Michaelhouse represents, it is Dean Forword. He has done it all during his 13 years in the valley, from MIC of cricket and first XI coach, to mentor of boys and coaches alike. As MIC of cricket at Michaelhouse, he reduced his vision for the game at the school to writing: “For all boys to understand the values and life lessons that cricket gives (patience, discipline, trust, friendship and determination). For each boy to have fun and to feel like he is contributing to his team’s success. For all boys to have developed a love for the game so that they continue playing the sport after school. To encourage boys to focus on their strengths while working through weaknesses.” And this is what he has stood for and developed in his time here at Michaelhouse. While we wish him all the best at Uplands College, he will be sorely missed, and the cricket club is poorer for his departure.

FIRST XI CRICKET

Coaches: Mr Darryn Mortimer, Mr Ian Crawford Sport Scientist: Mr Matthew Binnington Captain: Jeremy Foss

the previous year due to Covid. The team started the festival on a disappointing note losing to Clifton College but enjoyed famous victories against Futura (chasing down over 300) and Maritzburg College. During the first quarter the team started off with a fantastic 131 run victory over a strong and formidable Northwood team. Murray Baker, James Kennedy and Jeremy Foss all scored half centuries to help Michaelhouse post over 300 runs for the second time this season. Michaelhouse followed up this impressive victory with another one against DHS in a rain-affected match. Michaelhouse were unable to take this form into the remaining matches of the quarter and had a narrow loss to Hilton College

Team: Joshua Kirsten, Murray Baker, James Kennedy, Thomas McCall, Joshua Heath, John Yeadon, Robert Lawrence, Kamohelo Rathepe, Nathan Hoatson, Michael Thornton, Luke Jankowitz, Duncan Davies-Webb, Kyle Walker, West Mitchell-Innes, Thomas Mitchell, Murray-John Pitt he year started with a pre-season festival that formed part of Kearsney’s 100 year celebrations. The event was hosted at Kearsney this year having been cancelled

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