Cricket

MASTER IN CHARGE:  Mr A Leroy

Maritzburg College played its first cricket game in 1870 against Hermansburg. From that moment onward, cricket has played an integral part of the Maritzburg College culture and ethos. The very game of cricket and the spirit in which it ought to be played ties into the College core values and aid’s the development of the young individual into an all-round gentleman.

Cricket provides approximately 320 boys the chance to ply their trade every Saturday during the season. This equates to roughly six open teams, six u16, seven u15 and ten u14 sides. These teams are coached by a mixture of permanent College staff, the hostel boarder masters as well as several student coaches. Teams have a fixture every Saturday and as a school we sometimes play five or six different schools, often on the stagger to ensure everyone gets a game. The success rate hovers between 70% -75% over the course of the year.

Maritzburg College is fortunate to be able accommodate so many players due to the magnificent facilities it possesses. There are 23 cricket nets as well as 14 school owned fields and 3 outside fields that we hire for the weekend. Goldstones’ is the main cricket oval and has seen many provincial and international sportsmen show their skills on it over the last century and then some.

The highlight of the cricket season is without doubt the Michaelmas Cricket Week that is held annually at College in the September/October school holidays. The festival is arguably the most prestigious 1^st XI festival in the country and boasts 18 of the leading state and private schools in the country. In addition to the 1^st XI festival, the u15 and u14 sides travel to the Grey High (PE) and Hilton College cricket weeks respectively. . Festivals and tournaments are an important part of our sporting tradition at Maritzburg College and we relish the opportunity of testing ourselves against rival schools from outside of the province. It is also an important part the individual’s social growth, through sport by meeting new boys from other schools as well as spending some good time together with his own school peers on tour.