KNYSNA NEWS - Knysna Falcons enjoyed great success in the first Cape Premier League (CPL) this year, finishing third and making history as the first and only franchise to be owned by a primary school.
The Cape Premier League was launched this year as a branch-off of the existing leagues in Gauteng (Lenasia Premier League – LPL) and KwaZulu-Natal (Durban Premier League – DPL).
The LPL was the first of the leagues to be launched, and has been running for nine years while the DPL was launched last year.
The initial plan was that the CPL be launched last year, but due to the drought in the Cape the organisers were denied permission to do so, prompting them to begin the DPL instead.
This didn't deter organisers from trying again however, as they returned this year to officially launch the CPL with six franchises – Atlantic Pirates, District Sixers, Cape Vikings, Dromedaris Dragons, Hoeri Kwaggo Bulls, and our very own Knysna Falcons – taking part.
'Invaluable opportunity'
The CPL follows the same format that the LPL and DPL have been following (18 overs an innnings), and the Knysna Falcons have become the first franchise out of all three leagues to be owned by a school after Knysna Primary School acquired the rights to the franchise. According to KPS student governing body member Koos Steyn, they regard it as an invaluable opportunity for the area.
"We have a lot of talented young cricketers in our area, and by owning the franchise it gives us the chance to expose schoolboy cricketers to a higher level of cricket," he said.
The CPL provides the perfect opportunity to do so, as there is a quota of schoolboy players that must be met by each franchise for them to be eligible to compete. Each franchise was allocated a coach from the Western Province, and Knysna Falcons received national club champions Durbanville Cricket Club's Manny Senger.
Each franchise was allocated a fictional currency of three million "CPL dollars" to spend at the player auction in January, where the Falcons acquired the services of the likes of Cape Cobras batsman Pieter Malan and South African U19 bowler Thando Ntini as well as a heap of talented players from Durbanville. After a strong round-robin stage, the Falcons managed to find themselves in the playoff for the final at Newlands Cricket Stadium on 28 April, but unfortunately lost in the last over to finish third overall.
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