St Joseph’s Preparatory and College physical education teacher Tristan Rowe captained the SA U21 indoor cricket team to a historic unbeaten run on tour last week.
Rowe led the team to victory against Border U21s in their final match to make it eight wins in eight games on the tour which started in Cape Town on Friday February 13.
The team then went to Boland, George and Gqeberha and concluded the tour in East London against Border at the weekend.
“The match against Border was our seventh game in seven days. It was tough, but we fought hard from the first ball to the last, showing resilience despite the fatigue,” Rowe said.
He described the reception he has received from the school as overwhelmingly positive.
“My colleagues have celebrated my achievements and pupils have shown great enthusiasm — some are even inspired to get more involved in cricket themselves.”
The 20-year-old from East London made the jump from the outdoor format to indoor cricket in 2019.
“I started my first league team, Hoolikids, later renamed Hooliteenz. I currently play for Loonitoonz, winners of the A League five seasons in a row.
“At first, I played outdoor-style shots indoors but over time I adapted and developed proper indoor cricket techniques.”
These techniques include the tip-and-run, whereby the batter attempts a run immediately after hitting the ball to maintain the fast pace of the game.
Rowe is an opening batsman for the SA U21 team.
“This means that I bat in the first skin,” he said.
He has represented Border in three IPT tournaments at U21 level, captaining for two years and winning double gold.
His experience also saw him represent South Africa on both the inland and coastal tours.
Despite outdoor and indoor cricket sharing a lot of similarities, Rowe says that the pace and tempo set the two apart.
“Indoor cricket is played inside nets where the ball can’t go out. Different nets score different runs, and losing a wicket deducts five runs. Batting is done in pairs for four overs each, with eight players per team and 16 overs per innings. It’s fast-paced compared with outdoor cricket, where batting can last much longer and dismissals are final.
Rowe believes indoor cricket deserves more recognition.
“Representing your country in any sport should be a lifelong source of pride.”
Border had 20 representatives from the six South African sides that toured the past week.
U21 representatives included Rowe, Jared Durrheim and Taygon Mauer, AJ Durrheim and JJ van der Mescht.
The men’s open side had Quinton Sonnenberger and Grant Pretorius, and the ladies’ open had Melissa van Loggerenberg, Amy Botha and Abigail Nel.
The other tourists were:
Over 30s: Zane Scott and Heinrich Knoetze; Over 40s: Dylan Robb, Martin Minnie, Warren Powell and Andrew Johl; Over 50s: Shannon Lennox and Brett Hoole.
The men’s open manager was Michael Mauer and John Bott was the over-40s coach.
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