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Maties Cricket youngsters set for Varsity Cricket
Author: Maties Sport Media
Published: 26/01/2017

With an average age of 20 years it is a very young Steinhoff Maties Cricket team that will compete in the Varsity Cricket tournament next week.

The third annual Varsity Cricket tournament – played in Potchefstroom – starts on Monday 30 January. Eight universities will go head-to-head in a T20 tournament and the top four will progress to the semi-finals. Maties will be joined by hosts North West University (NWU-Pukke), defending champions University of Pretoria (UP-Tuks), University of Johannesburg (UJ), University of Western Cape (UWC), Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University (NMMU), University of Free State (Kovsies) and the University of Cape Town (UCT).

An FNB Best Bowler and a Steers Best Batsman will be identified after each match as well as an overall best bowler and batsman at the end of the tournament. The Power Play Plus over, an exciting Varsity Cricket innovation, will feature again at the 2017 tournament. All runs scored within this over will be doubled and added to the team's extras. However, should a batsman lose his wicket during the Power Play Plus over, five runs will be deducted from the batting side's score.

Maties played in the final of the first tournament and made the semi-final last year. This year they will start their campaign against last year's finalist UWC.

Maties' captain Gerhard Erasmus is one of the players who will make his Varsity Cricket debut.

"The squad we have for the Varsity Cricket tournament is a very young one. But we are very excited to prove ourselves and the Twenty20 format of the tournament is just the kind of platform you need for that. You can really express yourself in this fast paced format of the game and the kind of energy we have in our squad, coupled with a few calm heads, make us a real prospect to compete for the title. We will be missing a player or two due to injury, but I have the fullest confidence in the depth of our squad. This depth is thanks to the hard work of our coaches."

The semi-finals and finals will be played on Saturday 4 February.

Maties' schedule:

Monday, 30 January: UWC

Tuesday, 31 January: UCT

Wednesday, 1 February: UFS; UJ

Thursday, 2 February: Tuks

Friday, 3 February: NMMU; Pukke