Cricket festivals leave Knysna stumped

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KNYSNA CRICKET NEWS - Three cricket festivals in the space of two weeks recently brought more than 1 000 school cricketers to CX country, with 12 fields being used during the festivals.

The festivals, organised by Knysna cricket stalwart Keith Cretchley under his Sport at Backward Point (SABP) banner, attract children from around the country for a few days of pure cricketing bliss.

Every year, Cretchley (who has been involved in running Knysna's cricket scene for the last 40 years) organises three school cricket festivals (U11, U13, and U15), with his U13 festival being one of the largest in South Africa, if not the Southern Hemisphere.

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It was the U13 festival that got things under way again this year, on 20 September, with matches being played on 12 cricket fields spanning Sedgefield, Rheenendal, Knysna and Plettenberg Bay. Despite the torrential rains on Sunday 22 September, the cricketers had bucket-loads of fun and went home after the festival with their school holidays ahead to reminisce on the fun they had.

Straight after the U13 festival, the U11 festival got under way on 23 September, with slightly fewer teams (but still more than 20) taking part. The U11s enjoyed the best weather of the three festivals, with a visiting coach and his team from St Andrew's Preparatory School managing to pack in 100 overs of cricket on Wednesday 25 September thanks to the sunshine they'd received on the day.

The U15s bowled their first balls on Friday 27 September, with stunning weather and nothing but sunny skies overhead. This lovely weather wouldn't last unfortunately, as on Saturday the clouds began to draw together, ultimately leading to a day without cricket on Sunday 29 September. However, thanks to the help of a few trusty weather apps, some teams realised it would rain on Sunday and managed to fit in two extra games on Saturday.

Ronaldino Hunter.