Little village fest with a big heart

Gallery Update

KNYSNA CRICKET NEWS - The Knysna Villagers Cricket Festival once again lit up the sports fields in Rheenendal during the weekend, with 12 teams taking part in this year's edition of the event.

The festival was started last year by local cricket legend Keith Cretchley, who has built and developed the sports facilities just off the Rheenendal Road himself over the past decade.

He has also had a small Knysna Villagers league for a number of years and held the first festival for local teams in 2018, but last year decided to invite teams from George and Plettenberg Bay for a bigger festival.

This year he managed to attract a total of 12 teams, including some teams travelling from as far as Port Elizabeth, Cape Town, Hermanus and Kimberley to participate.

Photo gallery: Knysna Villagers Cricket Festival lights up Rheenendal

Matches started on Friday afternoon already, and continued through the weekend on five of the six fields that Cretchley had meticulously prepared in the build-up to the festival. The founder remarked on how proud he felt during the course of the weekend, seeing so much action: "To see my fields filled with players from all over the country brings joy to my heart, it makes me incredibly proud," Cretchley said.

He was also able to once again elicit the services of one of the greatest international cricket umpires of all time – Knysna-born Rudi Koertzen – who has lent a helping hand at a number of Cretchley's various sporting festivals. Koertzen was filled to the brim with praise for Cretchley: "It's one of the most amazing cricket tournaments that I've taken part in, the time and effort he puts in is absolutely amazing, his passion is unmatched by anyone I've ever seen," he said. "There is absolutely no way you can criticise him, everything is always absolutely perfect."

Koertzen was also touched by the manner in which the festival played out. "The spirit in which guys play is amazing. It's the spirit in which you play the game, and the guys really lived by that," he remarked, adding jokingly, "I wish I was 20 years younger, and could keep doing it [the festivals] for another 20 years."

Boatloads of fun were had during the festival, and judging by the overall sentiments voiced, the clubs returned home after the weekend eagerly awaiting next year's event.

Quinton Visagie plays a front foot shot for Cavaliers.