The Eastern Province team are determined to improve on their previous fourth position when they compete in the SA over-40 cricket interprovincial in Gqeberha, starting on Sunday.
A total of eight teams representing provinces from around the country face a busy week as they contest matches in the 45-overs and Twenty20 formats.
Hosted by Eastern Province for the first time, the tournament will come to a conclusion on May 23 and 24 when the final playoffs are held at venues still to be confirmed.
Western Province are the defending champions and will be motivated to retain the title, but they can expect stiff competition throughout the week.
Eastern Storm, the reigning over-40 club champions, also have the ability to make their presence felt in the chase for the title.
Under the guidance of coach Zarier Sirkhotte and manager Dean Kendall, EP are targeting some strong performances after finishing fourth in the previous tournament held in 2023.
Kendall said they were preparing for some tough matches.
“The competition in this event is always very high and you find that there are many former first-class players included in the various teams,” he said.
“For example, former SA player Ashwell Prince was in the WP team last year and obviously a player of that calibre can make a difference.
“Under the captaincy of Nathan Jones, we have a very decent side, with a bit of everything in the squad, and we are definitely hoping to improve on our fourth position of last time.”
The programme starts with 45-overs matches on Sunday and the Twenty20 games will be played every second day.
“It’s a week that will challenge the players physically because they play six matches in five days before going into the playoffs on the Friday and Saturday,” Kendall said.
“But our EP guys are ready for the battle and we’ll be aiming for a good start in our opening match against the Dolphins on Sunday.”
Kendall said that while they could not compare with the size of the league in a place such as Western Province, veterans’ cricket had grown in EP.
“When we started a few years ago we only had four leagues, but now we are up to 10, so there is a lot of interest and competition at this level.”
The venues to be used during the week are Daniel Pienaar Technical in Kariega, the Despatch Oval, Gelvandale Cricket Club and Heatherbank Cricket Club.
EP team: Nathan Jones (captain), Brent Emslie (vice-capt), Fadlie Adams, Riaan Kivedo, Nevin Nel, Dewald van Rooyen, Nathaniel Howard, Kelvin Hooke, Fabian Jantjies, Brent Kops, Shahid Mehmood, Ryan Nomdoe, Ronny Roth, Jacques Stroebel, Quenton Uithaler, Niel van der Linde, Dean Kendall (manager), Zarier Sirkhotte (coach).
The EP fixtures are:
May 18, 9.30am: EP v Dolphins (45 overs)
May 19, 9.30am: EP v Border (T20); 2pm: EP v Lions (T20)
May 20, 9.30am: EP v Boland (45 overs)
May 21, 9.30am: EP v Titans (T20)
May 22, 9.30am: EP v Eastern Storm (45 overs)
May 23 and 24: Cross-pool playoffs, venues to be confirmed.
The Herald
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