MICHAELHOUSE
True confessions of a KZN10 cricket scorer: Professor Michael Kidd
Michael Patchitt: “On my last run I was travelling much too fast and ramped into the (Maritzburg College dormitory) toilets, landing up the wrong way round in a toilet bowl.”
Mark Pearse: “I had to make a secret pact with Graeme and Chris and find out exactly where they would go to have their compulsory smoking session…”
Mike Kidd: “In my experience, cricket scorers’ rooms, especially the one in the scoreboard on Goldstones, made good places for illicit smoking sessions, although, for the record, I was always only a spectator.”
Michaelhouse first XI 1982
(back from left) Graeme Smythe, Graeme Elgie, Dave Burger, Giles Bonnet, Mickey Quin, Stuart Blacklaw, Rob Pluke, scorer Mike Kidd, (front from leftr: John Cheshire, Graeme Hurlbatt, Mugs Stewart (capt), Chris Newson, Neil Thompson, Jesse Chellan.
KZN schoolboy cricket – the stuff of legend. Anyone who hasn’t massaged the school rules on occasion please stand up. Ja, thought so.
There was also some cricket – and plench amusing too:
Trevor Edley: “Vaughan (Bradfield) was incredible on the short ball, as his dodgy knees prevented him from moving his feet…”
THE DOUGLAS BADER OF BATTING: Despite serious knee trouble since school days, DHS’s happy hooker Vaughan Bradfield went on to be one of South Africa’s top hockey players of his era.
Mike Kidd: “The Potch fast bowler quickly ran through the Michaelhouse batting order and our horrified player had to go out and face his worst nightmare. First ball he nicked to the keeper, thus preserving bodily integrity but not his batting average.”
John Cheshire: “… realising he might not make the required runs, Alan Adcock attempted to play the very first and only defensive shot of his illustrious innings…”
LIFE IN THE FAST LANE WITHOUT GRAEME HURLBATT: Canadian Alan Adcock and friend at ease in the Joshua Tree National Park in California. LIKE THE RED BLACK AND WHITE, AL.
JUST 4 days away… The 59th annual Oppenheimer Michaelmas Cricket Week, hosted as always by Maritzburg College begins on Saturday, September 29 and wraps up on Tuesday, October 2. A remarkable 22 teams and 44 matches.
First XI cricketers over the past 59 years will have fond memories of KZN schoolboy cricket – and Michaelmas. Here’s a recollection from a slightly different, but no less significant, viewpoint:
Everyone who knows will tell you that Professor Michael Kidd of the Law Faculty at the University of KZN Pietermaritzburg campus, whose academic focus includes Environmental Law, Water Law and Administrative Law, is a cricket fan of note.
Featured image: Professor Michael Kidd of the UKZN Pietermaritzburg campus Law Faculty.
Mike is also a writer of note – humour is never far from the surface and is so elegantly expressed.
I loved this, and know you will too.
Over to Mike Kidd:
“Thanks Jono, here goes…
“There’s an old adage – very unfair – that says, ‘Those who can, do; those who can’t, teach’.
Adapting that to school cricket in the 1980s, it could go, ‘Those who can, play; those who can’t, score’.
“Having had boys at high school in recent years, it is clear to me that there are at least two things very different between schools cricket (certainly at lower levels) in the late 70s and early 80s, when I was at school, and now.
“The first is, whatever team a boy plays for, there is almost always a match.
“My son was in the U14J team at College and he had a match nearly every Saturday. When I was at school, if you weren’t in the As or Bs (or 1sts, 2nds or 3rds), matches against other schools were few and far between.
“Consequently, there were many boys who were keen on sport who didn’t have a match to play on Saturdays. Some of them chose to be cricket scorers (as I did), while others (juniors) were pressganged into doing the job.
“The result of the latter was that the standard of scoring was frequently not all that good. I remember one game against Hilton for the U15C team (one of only a few we had the whole season) when we left the field having been told that we had lost. Upon checking the scorebooks, it turned out that we had, in fact, won.
“Today, in the lower teams, most of the scoring is done by the umpires (who are also the coaches) using a clipboard while checking for no-balls and LBWs.
“When I was at Michaelhouse from 1979-1983, I was very keen on cricket but my enthusiasm was a few levels higher than my skill.”
* Editor’s note: Clearly a (very) late developer, Mike’s latent talent was not fully appreciated by the Michaelhouse selection panel: This elegant product of the UKZN PMB Law Faculty went on to play local league cricket and notched his maiden half-century in his 40’s.
Back to Mike: “When I was not playing for the U15Cs, or 5ths (I once got as high as 3rds, but not even we played every weekend) I scored for the first XI – until the end of 1982 – having got the job during my first term as a standard seven (grade 9) boy in 1979.
“Schoolfriends would often ask me if I was mad giving up my entire Saturday to watch a cricket match and, what’s more, record what was happening in the match with not a little responsibility for the outcome! But I loved it – meeting interesting people, amusing people with the comments I wrote in the scorebooks, travelling to interesting places and watching some great cricket as well.
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“During my Michaelhouse first XI scoring career, members of opposition teams who would later become provincial, national – and in some cases international – names in cricket or rugby (or both) included Paul Rayner (Hilton); Robin Smith and Hugh Reece-Edwards (Northlands); Gerbrand Grobler, Joubert Strydom, Helgard Muller and Hansie Cronje’s older brother Frans Cronje (Grey Bloem); Trevor Packer (Alex); Dave Callaghan, Vlam Michau and Brian Lones (Grey PE); Cameron Oliver and Andrew Hudson, Mark Pearse, Ant Hall (Kearsney); and Craig Norris (KES), among others.
My first game scoring for the firsts was at King Edward VII School (KES) on a short tour to Johannesburg. Chasing an imposing 247 to win in less than ideal time, I was fortunate to witness Mick Tingle hit 94 in 70 minutes, hitting sixes to all areas of the ground and nearly taking out a few spectators, although it was not enough to win the match, Michaelhouse reaching a credible 229 with a couple of wickets in hand at the close. In those days there was very little limited-overs cricket. Declaration cricket was the norm.
“And during that much I struck up a friendship with the KES scorer, and we are still friends 40 years later!”
* Jono says: Then came a one-on-one tussle, between a Michaelhouse fast bowler and a Hilton College batsman (the nature of which just about every schoolboy cricketer could cite a similar example from his own era).
Over to Mike Kidd again:
“Shortly after the Jo’burg tour and the KES match, Michaelhouse hosted Hilton at what is now called the Roy Gathorne Oval. We had a tall, quick, opening bowler who was also a Natal Schools rugby lock, Colin van Heerden. Batting for Hilton was Paul Rayner, who later had a long first-class career with Natal and Western Province.
“Van Heerden pinned Rayner on the head with a short ball. Fortunately for Rayner, these were the early days of helmets, and he was unhurt. Van Heerden bowled another bouncer, whereupon Rayner deposited the ball over the railway line that skirts the Oval at Michaelhouse.
Caption annotation: The illustrious Michaelhouse first XI of 1979. Caption erratum: The gentleman in the front row, third from left (alongside the legends Messrs Van Heerden and Patchitt) is neither N.G. Frolich nor Nic Frolich. It is in fact Paddy Moon. The captain (front row, third from right) is not N.J. Patchitt, it is M.J. Patchitt. Further, the ace scorer (back row, extreme left) is not W.H. Kidd but is in fact one M.A. Kidd. Clearly the photographer bothered himself not with such trifles.
“An annual highlight was Michaelmas Week (now Oppenheimer Michaelmas Cricket Week), hosted by Maritzburg College in the September/October vacation. Schools from all over the country came to Pietermaritzburg to play against the invited KZN sides.
“In 1979, Michaelhouse were playing Potchefstroom Boys’ High at a field across the Dusi River called Tinneyland, which is no longer, due to its incorporation into the Camps Drift canal. Mike Patchitt, the Michaelhouse first XI captain, has the following recollection of that week. This is a story I have only recently heard, since I was staying at a friend’s house that week:
A tale of an adventurous Michael Patchitt and the Maritzburg College Underwater Dormitory.
“A few of us got back to the dormitory at Maritzburg College after a few beers ,” says the skipper Mike Patchitt, “and proceeded to start duckdiving in the UPSTAIRS showers which was a long narrow passage with the toilets at the far end.
“Everyone got a bit too excited and the speed at which we slid along the floor increased at an alarming rate. In order to get our speed up we had to use a lot of water and soap outside the showers.
“On my last run I was travelling much too fast and ramped into the toilets, landing up the wrong way round in a toilet bowl. I hobbled to bed but was woken at 4am by Driver Thompson – the late Mike Thompson, Michaelhouse legend and then coach of the Michaelhouse first team.
“As captain of the team I was asked to explain who had flooded the downstairs dormitories. All the cricket coaches had spent 3 hours cleaning up. I did mention that a number of boys were involved in the incident.
“The next day we played against Potch and as a result of my injury could hardly walk, let alone open the bowling. Driver simply smiled and said nothing. No further action was taken and I respect him for that. What a let-off!!!!!”
Back to Mike Kidd:
“The team may have been let off for the duckdiving, but the cricket against Potch was not forgiving. After Potch had made a respectable score, we went in. The Potch fast bowler was very quick indeed – probably faster than any of our team had seen before.
“One of our players in the middle order (no names) spent the entire innings verbally expressing his anxiety (I’m being kind here – it was probably closer to dread) at having to face Dustin.
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“Anyway, Dustin ran through the order fairly quickly and our horrified player had to go out and face his worst nightmare. First ball he nicked to the keeper, thus preserving bodily integrity but not his batting average. Dustin ended up with 8 wickets and Potch won comfortably.
Batsman Alert! Fast bowlers are unfeeling fellows. Preserve your bodily integrity with clear and comfortable vision. http://www.hilliarandgray.co.za/
“My other abiding memories are from 1982, when I was in matric and most of the team were contemporaries of mine. Gordon Paterson, the Michaelhouse coach, who had just returned to the school after a two-year sabbatical at Stellenbosch:
Gordon Paterson recalls: “I had just returned from two seasons under the guidance of Eddie Barlow, so I was determined that we would play to win and not play not to lose.
“It was a thoroughly enjoyable season of cricket with a capable team.”
Back to Prof Kidd:
“Under the captaincy of Murray ‘Mugs’ Stewart, we lost only once to another Natal team in a regular game (we also lost to Hilton in a limited-overs game under lights).
“This loss in a regular declaration fixture was the match late in the year against Kearsney. I wasn’t on duty that game because we in the 5ths had a game against Kearsney on Meadows, at the other end of the school.
“When our game ended (we won), I went up to the Oval to catch the end of the first team game. When I arrived, the stumps had been drawn and everything was over. I found my substitute scorer, and the scorebook made rather dismal reading (from a Michaelhouse perspective).
“Kearsney had declared on 209 for 2, with Mark Pearse out on 99 – he told me later he had tried to tickle a Graeme Hurlbatt delivery down to third man, only succeeding in feathering a catch behind – and Andrew Hudson on 76 not out.
1982 Kearsney College and Natal Schools captain Mark Pearse tried to get cute with a Graeme Hurlbatt delivery and was back in the hut for 99.
“Michaelhouse in response managed to muster only 67, with Anthony Hall taking 8 for 27. Both Hudson and Hurlbatt made the Natal Schools side that year, with Hudson of course eventually playing for South Africa at Test match level (35 Tests and 89 ODIs).
Note from Jono: In 1982 Ant Hall was absolutely unplayable on the AH Smith Oval at Kearsney, zipping the ball off the seam prodigiously. Indeed, so marked was the movement that most of us weren’t good enough to nick-off. Clearly Ant found the Michaelhouse pitch much to his liking as well.
Back to Prof Kidd: “Another memorable game where I wasn’t scorer took place at Goldstones in February of that 1982 year. I was playing for Michaelhouse 5ths on Papes (now the Maritzburg College hockey Astro), on a matting wicket. Having scored a royal duck, I attempted to atone with the ball.
“I bowled the College captain with one that hit the edge of the mat and cut in about a metre-and-a-half to take out off stump. But a College batsman, who looked as if he was a first team prop, cleaned up and we lost quite early in the afternoon.
“I walked down to Basher Ridge on Goldstones to watch the first team game. When I arrived, it looked as though Michaelhouse had it wrapped up.
“Michaelhouse had declared on 153 for 4, with Chris Newson (unlucky not to make Natal Schools, in my opinion) contributing 72 not out. College were in all sorts of trouble, 9 down with less than 100 on the board.
“Nobody had told Maritzburg College’s last batsman, the very swift fast bowler Alan Adcock (son of SA fast bowling great Neil), that the game was over, however. Alan (tall, and a very good golfer) got stuck into the bowling, particularly Hurlbatt; not in an agricultural manner, but by playing some wonderful drives. The ace Michaelhouse fast bowler kept looking for the yorker and number 11 batter Adcock kept driving – with uncommon grace and timing – piercing the covers or straight back past the increasingly frustrated Hurlbatt.”
GOLDSTONES GLORIOUS GOLDSTONES: On-song Maritzburg College fast bowler Alan Adcock disturbs PBHS batsman R. Cleaver’s middle and leg stumps after gliding in from the Princess Margaret Drive End in a fashion so reminiscent of his Springbok paceman dad. Skipper Jono Cook seems a bit surprised for some reason.
Jono says: “I remember like yesterday the supreme competitor (to put a ridiculously mild spin on it) that is Graeme Hurlbatt steaming in from the College Road End in the gathering gloom and working up a fearsome pace as he sought to finish what he had started. I was out early and so relieved that it was now Alan facing and not me. There were quite a few Hurlbatt verbals thrown Alan’s way.”
Back to the Prof: “With the Michaelhouse total in sight, John Cheshire, the Michaelhouse spinner, was reintroduced to the attack:”
Over to John Cheshire: “Mugs (captain Murray Stewart), for whatever reason, entrusted me to bowl what was the final over of the day. College (Adcock) needed 14 to win.
THERE IS ALWAYS ONE… An unforeseen arm ball from Michaelhouse and Natal Schools mystery spinner John Cheshire cruelly deprived the dashing Maritzburg College number 11 batsman Alan Adcock of a deserved place in Red Black and White cricket folklore.
“(Alan) Adcock swung and missed at my first 2 deliveries and then, realising he might not make the required runs, attempted to play the very first and only defensive shot of his illustrious innings, only for ball to go between bat and pad and clean bowled!”
Jono says: John that hurt, as I thought we (by ‘we’, read Alan Adcock) had dragged the impossible out of the fire.
OK, back to Professor Mike: “Alan Adcock was eventually dismissed for 42 and Michaelhouse had won by 13 runs.
“Exactly a month later in that 1982 year, Alexandra came up to Michaelhouse. There was a lot of moisture in the air and I assume Michaelhouse won the toss and put Alex in.
“Hurlbatt got 4 wickets with Stuart Blacklaw and Jesse Chellan getting 3 apiece, to have Alex back in the hut for 55. Alex struck back, however, and all of the Michaelhouse batsmen who usually scored runs were out with the target still some way off.
“The prospect of an unexpected defeat loomed large. Alex fast bowler Mark Iveson (Jono says, extremely swift, trust me) whom captain Greg Visick described as “a bowler who gave me everything I asked” and was unfortunate not to make Natal Schools, took 4 wickets.
“Enter Graeme Elgie, who showed the previous batsmen how to handle the conditions, ending with 49 and taking Michaelhouse safely to 111. Alex were put in for a second innings, mustering 77.
An inspirational 49 from the lesser-heralded Michaelhouse batsman Graeme Elgie turned looming defeat and a Mark Iveson wicket-taking tidal wave into victory against the luckless Alex first XI.
“One of the most exciting games in which I was involved as scorer was against DHS, at Michaelhouse. We scored 157 for 8, leaving DHS 150 minutes to score 158 for victory.
“As Michaelhouse first XI coach Gordon Paterson observed in the school magazine: ‘At 57 for 1 at tea and 100 for 4 at 4.45pm, they [DHS] were well placed for victory’.”
Recalls Trevor Edley, the 1982 DHS captain and Natal Schools’ cricketer of his DHS team-mate Vaughan Bradfield (the brilliant hockey player): “Vaughan opened the batting in this game to devastating effect and was setting us up for victory.
1982 DHS first XI captain and Natal Schools batsman Trevor Edley and “Brad” (only joking – I suspect the pooch’s knees are OK)).
“Vaughan was incredible on the short ball, as his dodgy knees prevented him from moving his feet; remarkable in that he would become one of the outstanding South Africans on the hockey field.
“He fell just short of his 50 and Hurlbatt came back into the attack to take a further 3 wickets (he took 5 overall), leaving things on a knife’s edge. Overs were running out and DHS were closing in, but with only one wicket left. All three results were still a possibility when Chellan bowled Andrew Butler to leave Michaelhouse victors by 3 runs.”
Back to Professor Mike: “At the end of Offord Week, when the Natal Schools’ team was selected, I was fortunate to be asked to score for them in a warm-up game at Kingsmead against a Natal Country Districts side.
“I knew about half the Natal Schools side quite well, since there were three Michaelhouse representatives (Neil Thompson, Graeme Hurlbatt and John Cheshire) and three players who had been at Highbury with me; Mark Pearse, the captain, and Paul Logan (also from Kearsney), and Chris Copland from Hilton (more about them in the next paragraph).
“This was my last game as scorer at school (I scored for a few of my sons’ games 30 years later as a coerced spectator!) and it was the only time ever that one of the players (no names) came into the scorers’ room during lunch to change his bowling figures.
“I noticed the alterations and tidied everything up after lunch, but it was something that I had never expected!
Highbury first XI 1978. Back row 4th from left: Chris Copland then Giles Bonnet and Paul Logan. Front row 2nd from left: Graeme Elgie, captain Mark Pearse (centre) and Michael Kidd on the right.
“Four of the Natal players were selected for SA Schools in 1982: Graeme Hurlbatt and Chris Copland were the SA Schools opening bowlers that year, Mark Pearse and David Pfaff, the opening batsman from Hilton College, who was also an SA Schools hockey striker, also made the team.
Natal Schools captain Mark Pearse recalls: ““It was no secret that leading up to Nuffield Week, Graeme and Chris were going to be a devastating new ball pairing.
“They certainly didn’t disappoint and destroyed a number of the other sides. Ant Lovell (Hilton College legend) was our coach and we always liked to have a team meeting the night before a game to dissect the opposition the next day.
“Obviously, the time would change depending on everyone’s availability. I had to make a secret pact with Graeme and Chris and find out exactly where they would go to have their compulsory smoking session.
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“If Ant Lovell called a meeting, I would rush off to Chris and Graeme in the agreed smoking area and hand out some spearmint chewing gun to dilute the smell of cigarettes! Great memories and superb characters.”
Back to Professor Michael Kidd: “From my experience, scorers’ rooms, especially the one in the scoreboard on Goldstones, made good places for illicit smoking sessions, although, for the record, I was always only a spectator.
“SIR, I WAS ONLY A SPECTATOR. PROMISE…” Tom Selleck, Bernoldus Niemand or ???
“I suppose that a young cricket enthusiast who is now at a well-resourced school has ample opportunity to play cricket almost every weekend, so the option of scoring is not so common anymore.
“All the same, I’m glad that I had the opportunity with the scorebook. Those memories are as vivid as those of any matches in which I played.”
ENDS
# Cheers Mike, having also been in matric in 1982, your recollections have sparked a dozen – and more – memories of that special time. Thank you. Magic stuff.
GIVE THIS MAN (YET ANOTHER) CASTLE! Thanks Mike.
*****
Notes from Jono:
The colourful Graeme Hurlbatt:
* Bulawayo-born, came to Michaelhouse from the then family home in Swaziland, made SA Schools cricket, was a (frightening, trust me) Michaelhouse first team hockey centre forward that no-one wanted to mark (trust me), played cricket for Natal B and Scotland. Graeme, who was nicknamed Captain Marvel by one of his UK clubs, played and coached in Scotland and Ireland with great success for the better part of 3 decades.
A far more chilled Graeme Hurlbatt than on that epic Goldstones Saturday late-afternoon when Maritzburg College batting bunny Alan Adcock drove the Michaelhouse terror down the ground with elan and panache.
Alan Adcock’s dad:
* Alan Adcock’s dad, Neil Adcock, was the first South African fast bowler to take 100 Test wickets. He used his height to make the ball lift alarmingly off a length. On the Springboks’ tour to England in 1960, Adcock was a revelation, brushing off the controversy surrounding his new-ball partner, DHS Old Boy Geoff Griffin – who was no-balled for throwing – to take 26 wickets in the Tests, even though South Africa lost the series 3-0. On that England tour, Adcock took 108 wickets for the Springboks at an average of 14 and was named one of Wisden’s Cricketers of the Year.
LIKE FATHER LIKE SON: Neil Amwin Treharne Adcock.
As you can see from this 1956 British Pathé newsreel filmed on day 1 of the first Test between the Springboks and England at Ellis Park, cricket in South Africa was a box office event drawing capacity crowds. During a purple patch, Jeppe Old Boy Neil Adcock and Peter Heine – one of the great new-ball partnerships – took 98 wickets between them in 12 Tests. Neil later became a popular cricket commentator.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c6Qt78mZRCU
THE NEIL ADCOCK DELIVERY STRIDE: Give me the mysteries of John Cheshire on a sticky wicket any time.
Why the KZN10 schools are getting it right
The success to date of Hilton College’s grade 11 triple first XI sportsman Suubi Mugerwa-Sekawabe is a combination; a three-pronged structure – raw talent, parental support and the school coaches’ guidance.
A PROUD HISTORY AND TRADITION: First XV front-ranker Henty Beukes enters Graeme Gilfillan Field ahead of the 200th Hilton Michaelhouse match.
Given Suubi’s sports career, I am surmising that raw talent is the base; and more than that, his achievement so far is the consequence of his Hilton College first XI coaches Celo Mbanjwa (football), Devon van der Merwe (hockey) and Dale Benkenstein (cricket) instilling in Suubi the more important values that indicate success is more about preparation than raw talent.
Featured image: SHARING A MOMENT – The St Charles College boys express themselves on Meadows during the first XV rugby match on 28 April 2018.
It is also a consequence of the support given Suubi in preceding years. It is no accident that Suubi has achieved success in all walks of life.
BROTHERS FOR LIFE: Clifton College first XV boys standing together, one for the other.
National recognition and regional/provincial recognition – be it academic, cultural, sporting – is the culmination of a step-by-step learning process that takes much time, blood, plenty of sweat – and yes, frustration and disappointment when a desired outcome is denied.
And it is not for all to achieve the heights, but it is for all to be the very best they can possibly be, given the talents they have. And here again I feel that my chosen KZN10 schools are on the right path – endeavouring as best they can to make each boy aware that there is an avenue for his “special power”; that his particular gift will be acknowledged, valued and nurtured.
More than just winning it, it’s about LIVING IT: Kearsney College 1st’s Dane Mertsch… living and loving every moment.
Photo TRACEY VAN DEN AARDWEG
Please note: Suubi and Hilton College is an example. There are numerous other examples amongst all the K10 schools, as evidenced in the links below. There are some schools not included in the links that the same evidence will be painted in the weeks and months to come.
Some random examples: Celimpilo Gumede the DHS first XV captain, SA Schools (2nd year) and SA Sevens rugby forward; Sibusiso Sangweni, Kearsney College rugby captain and SA Schools loose forward; schoolmate Guy Morgan, firsts hockey captain, KZN Coastal A national title-winning captain and SA Hockey Fives team member.
The thing is, first and foremost these fine young men are primarily at school for academics and I have tried my best – until they get a gap – to let them get on with it, rather than infringe on their study time and numerous other commitments.
Please note further: Winning is by no means everything at school level, yet a general rule can be applied – boys and teams that are encouraged to extend themselves in a structured, skill-by-skill progression, will win most matches and individual events.
IT’S FAR MORE THAN JUST A JOB: Glenwood first XV head coach Derek Heiberg and peers take the time to understand and counsel each player in their care.
And, thank goodness in most respects: No one educational institution or boy is perfect – that’s what makes the process so satisfying in the long term; there is always scope for learning and for the betterment of the here and now.
So, yes, Suubi had already shown the raw material and the desire at a young age, the sporting goods, to stand out, but as we have seen with many outstanding schoolboy sportsmen – some who have achieved post-school and others not – that in-born, innate ability is not enough.
As a sports journalist of 23 years’ standing who has a long-standing, abiding interest in schoolboy sport and its participants: What I see at Hilton College and other members of my chosen KZN10 schools is much more than just having talented boys; it’s a determination by their coaches and schoolteachers to foster a policy of encouraging, motivating the boys in a continuous search to further develop their innate talent.
SEEING BEYOND THE WHITES LINES: Northwood first team coach Shaun Baker and his KZN10 peers know that hockey’s educational value extends much further than the confines of an Astro.
The positive side of the coin is this: If the coach doesn’t enable the boy – when the boy has mastered the nuts and bolts of a particular skill set – to keep exploring, in a structured manner, the upper reaches of his talent base, a plateau is reached, a plateau where raw talent alone is not enough. The development – and the process of achievement flatlines.
And, ultimately, what could have been is never fulfilled. Therein lies the reality. The best coaches and schoolteachers tell the truth, improve the boys’ ability to communicate, instil the process that success requires in any field of endeavour.
SHARING A TEAM-MATE’S SPECIAL MOMENT: Members of the Westville first XV.
The sports field is a metaphor for life in its broadest terms; it is a theatre of the real world and the lessons that simply must be learned if success is to follow – the time to put one’s hand up, to stand alone, the time to suppress self-interest in pursuit of a greater cause, the time to put others first, the learning that there are no short-cuts, the growing appreciation and recognition that everything worthwhile is to be earned, not given.
Coaches who are adept at enabling their team and individual players to embrace and love getting past the comfort zone of current success through a constant, step by step, process by process, exploration of skills development and optimal performance will benefit all parties in the long run – and most important of all – will provide lasting benefit to each boy.
THE SHARED EMOTION of success that has at its genesis countless hours’ training when few are even aware you are.
* At its core: encouraging a joy for the little things – a the smell freshly cut sports field, the intoxicating aroma of a brand new leather cricket ball, a deep love of the sport itself, not the outcome of a contest, the deep satisfaction of sharing, by unselfish deeds, in the collective that is team.
* I am not predicting anything for Suubi or the young men mentioned here – there are many other variables, such as opting for a study focus post-school in which time constraints preclude the rigours of serious sport – but what I am saying is that Hilton College and my chosen KZN10 schools are doing their utmost to lay the best-possible foundation – a present and future life path that goes way beyond the school boundaries.
And perhaps most important of all – it is the social interaction of boys from all walks of life – the recognition that there is a common bond – if we care enough to find it.
WHERE FRIENDS ARE MADE: Every KZN10 Old Boy will tell you that where once there were rivals now there are friends – mutual respect borne of a common interest and a shared battle.
The links
Time spent together. https://www.fordoun.com/special-offers/
DHS vs Maritzburg College 1st XV epics… 1987-1989… Ivy’s memories
Trust comes from knowing that Jens is on your team – trust me: 082 576 2406.
Glenwood first XV – The process that leads to the performance
Only the very best see beyond the obvious. http://www.hilliarandgray.co.za/services/comprehensive-eye-exams/
Westville Boys’ Head of School Matthew Pollard reflects on the year
Communication. The key to understanding. Go beyond the mixed messages. Lucienne (065 301 3095) is waiting to connect your way.
Hill Premium Quality Cricket Balls will never let you down. Maritzburg College Old Boy and cricketer Stuart Hill (082 752 1494) will tell you why.
Michaelhouse senior prefect Will Norton reflects on the year
A brainwave (courtesy of a good friend of mine) this morning – the KZN10 head boys are winding up their year as leaders of the 2018 student body so an opportune time to ask them 3 quick questions – what they have learnt about leadership, what was a year highlight, and what advice would they give to the 2019 head boy:
Talking, communicating leads to understanding. https://www.cellc.co.za/
Here’s Michaelhouse Senior Prefect William Norton:
KZN10.com: Hi Will, what are your thoughts on the questions I have posed to you?
Hi sir,
1. The biggest thing I will take away from this year is learning how to deal and interact with people on many different levels.
You are always put in situations which aren’t necessarily in your comfort zone but you’ve got to learn to trust yourself and believe in yourself.
There is a time and a place to be in your comfort zone. http://titantech.co.za/ for the best advice.
By talking to people and seeing how the world operates in more detail, you are able to learn immense amounts and continue to grow as a person.
Michaelhouse has given me the opportunity to learn so much about myself and also about the people around me and I will be forever grateful for that.
Michaelhouse Senior Prefect William Norton on House’s beloved Meadows with War Cry Leader for 2018 Nzuzo Tshili. Will has fond memories of the House boys’ spirit and support at the 200th first XV rugby match with hosts Hilton College on Graeme Gilfillan Field in June.
2. My highlight of the year would have to be the war cries at the second Hilton vs Michaelhouse fixture.
Although we hadn’t had a great season, the boys sang, danced and cheered like no other and that was one of those special moments where you realise that Michaelhouse is so much more than just a school!
3. Some key advice that I think would help the incoming Senior Prefect and School Prefects would be to be yourself.
Carve your own path. https://www.fordoun.com
Do not try to be like anyone else and copy what previous people have done. Rather make the role your own – because you have been put in this position for a reason.
Believing in yourself is a key aspect – and making the most of every opportunity is also absolutely crucial because the time really does fly by.
Clear insight brings better choices. http://www.hilliarandgray.co.za/
I hope this is alright sir.
Kind regards
Will Norton
* Thanks Will, you have certainly had the effect of making me look at my own life and given me pointers on how to improve communication and interpersonal relations.
Much obliged and best wishes for UCT next year. See you at Oppenheimer Michaelmas Cricket Week.
True grit: Tireless Michaelhouse first XI seam and swing bowler Will Norton after picking up a five-wicket haul that included long spells on Goldstones in the first term. Photo Jono Cook
KZN10.com talks to Michaelhouse fast bowler Fraser Jones
AS the cricket season dawns, some of the KZN10 first XI squads already playing friendlies, the 59th annual Oppenheimer Michaelmas Cricket Week hosted by Maritzburg College just 30 days away, KZN10.com spoke to Michaelhouse all-rounder Fraser Jones, who represented South Africa at the U19 World Cup in New Zealand.
Fraser, the U19 Cricket World Cup in New Zealand?
“Thanks for interviewing me, Sir. Being chosen to represent my country with the SA U19 World Cup team, played in New Zealand in January this year, is the highlight of my cricket career so far. It exposed me to a new level of cricket.
“I took away loads of sporting and life lessons. In my final game, I was honoured to be made man of the match after taking five wickets against Bangladesh.”
Michaelhouse and SA’s Fraser Jones man of the match for his U19 Cricket World Cup 5 for 33 vs Bangladesh in New Zealand.
Fraser’s efforts with the ball upfront played a role in reducing Bangladesh to 33 for five on South Africa’s way to an eight-wicket victory with 69 balls to spare. His final analysis was five wickets for 33 off 8 overs.
That SA U19 selection was another step in a steady progression that began for Fraser at primary school in Johannesburg.
A place in the Gauteng U13 team was followed by selection for the KZN U15, U17 and U19 teams, as well as for the Dolphins in the U19 Cubs Week, and for South Africa at U17 and U19 level.
Fraser was also Dolphins 12th man in a Sunfoil Series match and is in the Tugela Sharks team in the current Dolphins T20 Premier League.
If all goes well, with his last term of cricket at Michaelhouse looming, and the Coca-Cola Khaya Majola U19 Week in Cape Town in December, there is more cricket to come from Fraser in the final quarter of the year.
Fraser, KZN10.com wishes you all the best in that regard. So where did it start?
“I started playing cricket from the time I could hold a bat.
“At the age of 6, I started playing cricket at The Ridge School in Johannesburg. In my primary years, it was most definitely my dad who taught me the most about cricket. I also taught my sisters how to bowl to me in the nets.
“In the beginning of my cricketing journey, I was just a top-order batsman who never really bowled, so batting was the main focus then.”
Balance, technique. In his primary years Fraser was a batsman.
It’s great to see that in high school Fraser has added wicket-taking ability to his cricketing armoury but apart from his skills as an opening bowler, for which he is probably better-known, he is also a talented batsman.
Sound technique, times the ball sweetly, an array of shots and the ability to pace an innings.
So does Fraser see himself as a bowling all-rounder or does he feel, be it batting or bowling, that he offers the same value?
“I see myself as a genuine all-rounder. I back my batting and believe that I offer the same value with both my batting and bowling.”
With ball in hand, Fraser is certainly a strike weapon in his role as the Michaelhouse first XI opening bowler. If a threatening partnership needs to be broken or wickets are needed in a hurry, his captain Mike Brownlee could well glance Fraser’s way.
SA U19 fast bowler Fraser Jones follows through after delivery.
“If called on, I enjoy taking on the responsibility for the team, it brings out the best in me. My team-mates have always made it a lot easier by backing my bowling and encouraging me – even at times when I could not break partnerships.”
As many a frontline fast bowler will tell you, some with tears of frustration in their eyes, the backing of wicketkeeper, close catchers and outfielders are critical in returning the bowling figures that output and skills have merited.
If things don’t go well in the field, it must be tough, given the energy and skill-set that has been poured into the paceman’s efforts?
“Yes, it is really important to have the double-backing effect between the bowler and his fielders, as it gives confidence to run in and only focus on bowling.”
A fast bowler who knows he’s got his fielders’ backing can concentrate on what he does best. hhttp://titantech.co.za/
Fraser made his Michaelhouse first XI debut in grade 10 and estimates he has around 40 games in the school’s premier team under his belt.
And, unsurprisingly, some of his favourite cricketing memories stem from the longstanding association between Michaelhouse and Hilton College.
“Led by our captain Sean Gilson, our first-term victory over Hilton at home last year (2017) is one I remember, because it was just a good, all-round game, great team spirit. I always look forward to the Hilton-Michaelhouse game as the rivalry and tradition behind it makes the occasion unforgettable.”
The batsman had better be up for this… Fraser Jones launches into his delivery stride during the U19 World Cup.
While at Michaelhouse, Fraser has been fortunate to benefit from the experience of knowledgeable cricket men.
“At the beginning of my time at Michaelhouse, Mr (Johnny) Crawford was very influential. He guided me in cricket and was always available if I needed support and a good chat.”
Indeed, Johnny Crawford, first at Alex (Alexandra High School) in its cricketing prime, and latterly at Michaelhouse, has given – and still does – countless hours to developing young cricketers.
“During Mr (Dale) Benkenstein’s time at Michaelhouse, he helped take my game to another level. He always had my back, even to justify why my time on the field was worth missing time in the classroom.”
A Michaelhouse Old Boy, Dale is making a huge impression in his current role as Hilton College first XI coach.
With every cricketer, as in life, the highs come with the lows – and as much as Fraser’s cricket journey has brought much joy, there has been one particularly tough experience. Success and disappointment are two sides of the same coin.
Cricket builds character. There are low points. Make sure your eyesight isn’t one of them. http://www.hilliarandgray.co.za/
Fraser’s SA selection for this year’s U19 Cricket World Cup was a case of recognition and an opportunity on the world stage. Opting to forego the rugby season, where a Michaelhouse first XV jersey was as close to definite as these things can be, in preparation for the SA U19 cricket tour to England in July, and then missing the cut, was indeed that difficult moment.
“I was seriously disappointed that I was not selected for the squad for the UK tour.”
So did Fraser try, as tough as it is, to use that disappointment as a motivator?
“Yes, looking back, it has helped me focus on other important aspects of life.
“I missed the first few weeks of my matric year over the World Cup tour, so I got time to catch up on my work, and spend time with friends, which I had missed. Representing an international side meant sacrificing time and passion for my other sports.
“After missing the entire season of rugby, I got to run on in the red and white stripes of the Michaelhouse first team for the final game, the big derby at Hilton.”
Focusing on cricket, Fraser had to miss the Michaelhouse first XV rugby season – with one exception… playing in the 200th Hilton Michaelhouse first team match.
If one was to choose the one match to play in, that 200th first XV match between Hilton and Michaelhouse was indeed the one – and Fraser acquitted himself well. Who knows what might have been, had he played the whole season.
“It was hard not playing the rugby season. I love rugby and perhaps, had I been selected for representative teams, it could have been a good path for me. The way that it played out, cricket is where I have been most recognised.
“After the SA U19 cricket tour selection wasn’t in my favour, it saddened me that I had missed out on the rugby season and time on the field with my team-mates in my final year at Michaelhouse.
“Looking back, it’s something that I will never forget but can only learn from, sacrificing for other things that might have benefited me in the long run.
“I would like to think that the disappointment I experienced gave me a chance to enjoy my limited time left at school, so what I have taken away from the experience is that out of bad can come good.”
Has the support of family and friends been a boost in the good times and the bad?
“I am so grateful for the family and friends that I have. They have all been on my roller-coaster ride with me, in cricket and every aspect of my life.
“My sisters (one older and one younger) have spent so much time away from their lives, to be on the side of the field for me.
“My dad has been my biggest critic and my greatest fan, and my mum my backbone.
“I am so blessed to have the aunts, uncles and grandparents that I do, they have travelled across the country to be with me.”
Quality time with people who care makes life special. https://www.fordoun.com/
Fraser, you’re now in your last few months at Michaelhouse, your dad is a Michaelhouse Old Boy, what has the school taught you, what have you learned that has fashioned you into the person you are?
“Michaelhouse has taught me how to be a man. It has offered me unforgettable life experiences, friends and memories. It has encouraged me to try and establish the person that I hope to become.”
Next year is not that far off, your post-school future lies before you, do you have any plans or options at this stage?
“After my time at the World Cup, there are paths that have opened up to me. My decision is still to be finalised, but my primary focus is to study at the university of my choice.”
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Thanks for your time, Fraser. KZN10.com wishes you everything of the best.
Michaelhouse’s Prince Charming… Mubeezi Lubinga in 20 seconds
(OK I deviated from the norm re the pic but how could I leave Mubeezi’s younger bro Mogabi out? Awesome pic. There is so much in the sibling affection).
Michaelhouse leader
Mubeezi Lubinga in 20 secs
Nickname: Mub
Mubeezi in 1 word: Charming
Favourite food: Spaghetti bolognaise
Favourite car: Ferrari 458
Holiday destination: St Francis Bay
Board game: Monopoly
*Editor’s note: useful training for acquiring that elusive Ferrari .
Favourite breakfast: Waffles, whipped cream & syrup
3 Desert island must-haves: Good company, good book, soccer ball
4 Things I can’t live without: Friends, football, family & laughter
Favourite quote: “Be aware of the opponent, but don’t make the opponent too big in your head. You’ll end up being scared of him.” Unknown
If I could attend any sports event: Manchester derby at Old Trafford
Down time: Watch football, read
Actor: Daniel Kaluuya
Actress: Sarah Rafferty
TV show: Game of Thrones
On your screensaver: Game of Thrones House Sigils
- For the full story on this poster boy for all that is good in one of KZN and SA’s flagship schools please go to https://kzn10.com/michaelhouses-multifaceted-mubeezi-lubinga/
* To discover more about Michaelhouse the school take a look https://www.michaelhouse.org/
Thanks for your time, Mubeezi. Now it’s your time to thank mom for her unstinting support. Make mom Queen for a Day… nkosazane Ya Namhlanje
Michaelhouse’s multifaceted Mubeezi Lubinga
Michaelhouse first team hockey and soccer captain, Head of House… Mubeezi Lubinga has a great personality, people are naturally drawn to him, but he backs that people ease through his deeds. Let’s find out more…
Mubeezi, great to have you on KZN10.com! You have spent your high school years at one of South Africa’s flagship educational institutions. What has your time at Michaelhouse taught you, what have been the biggest takeaways that you feel will stay with you well into the future?
Featured image: Personality and example powers the Mubeezi Lubinga brand of leadership.
“Thank you, Sir, I am honoured and privileged that you asked to interview me. To answer your question, aside from the etiquette – the manner in which one must conduct oneself in society – I have had the pleasure of meeting such incredible people here at Michaelhouse.
“There are many talented boys at Michaelhouse and what I have taken away from them is: If you want to achieve something, it is possible, as long as you truly believe it. It sounds like a cliché – and it is something we all hear – but it is so true, and it was only after meeting and watching extraordinary sportsmen, pupils and musicians that I actually came to believe it.
“In fact, had I learnt this cliché was true earlier in life, my life at this point may well have been very different, in the sense that I would have chased my dreams with more intent, knowing I could actually achieve them.”
Brothers, schoolmates, team-mates – Mubeezi and Mugabi Lubinga.
Well, you have done pretty well as it is Mubeezi, so mark it down to the learning curve that (unfortunately or perhaps fortunately) never ends.
So, as the Michaelhouse first team hockey and soccer captain: What’s it like being the go-to man, the ‘leader of the pack’?
“I like to think that my enthusiasm and passion brings out the best in my team-mates.”
Mubeezi is Head of Farfield House – at Michaelhouse there are 8 Houses so 8 Heads of House, with the Head Prefect above them. Each House has House Prefects as well.
So, one of the school’s leaders, Mubeezi started the hockey season and his role as first team captain at centre link before moving to his preferred position of centre back. “I enjoy centre back because I like the defensive responsibilities the position brings but I know, too, that I can offer value on attack.”
Making it count: Michaelhouse first team soccer captain and left wing-back Mubeezi Lubinga gets the game going in front of the Meadows faithful.
A massive Manchester United fan, on the football field Mubeezi’s role is a little different: “I play left wing-back. It enables me to attack down the wing but I do have to get back and defend. I add value to the team by putting in crosses and being a target in the box for corners and set-pieces.”
Mubeezi has certainly caught the eye of hockey selectors over the years and had he been available for the KZN Inland U18 side this year my gut feel suggests an SA Schools A or B cap would have been a distinct possibility. Mubeezi also wasn’t available for soccer selection – matric preliminary exams take precedence in this young man’s mind.
There has been a steady progression through the ranks. KZN Inland U14A selection was followed by Inland U16A for two years and U18A last year. Mubeezi was also selected for the SA U16B side while playing in that age group.
Recent KZN10.com feature focus Andre Bradford of Maritzburg College is challenged by Michaelhouse skipper Mubeezi Lubinga during the 12-goal Aitken’s Astro thriller. Red Army 7 Michaelhouse 5.
“I loved playing the fast-paced hockey at Interprovincial Nationals and it was always one of the highlights of my hockey season. Unfortunately, I have never won an IPT. In the KZN Inland sides I played in, we finished runners-up in the U14A age group, third and second in my two U16A years and second last year, for the U18As (Inland lost the 2017 final to Western Province on the Kearsney College Astro). When I played for South Africa U16B we played Namibia and two other South African sides.”
In the initial stage of his high school soccer career, Mubeezi represented Midlands and then gained selection for KZN U14 (in football there is no KZN Inland and KZN Coastal but as in rugby the greater Pietermaritzburg and Durban regions are combined for national tournaments).
KZN Inland U14 hockey selection at that time meant that Mubeezi had the rare opportunity to experience both the hockey and soccer vibe at national tournaments – and the hockey experience is the one that sticks more in his mind.
“The soccer experience was much different to that of a hockey IPT and I have to admit I enjoy the whole vibe and experience of a hockey IPT more.”
What a feeling! Mubeezi Lubinga scores during the surprise 2-1 win over Clifton College on Aitken’s.
Midlands U16 selection was the next step on the Mubeezi Lubinga football journey. As with hockey, Mubeezi did not make himself available for selection at a higher level this year.
So how many years and how many matches has Mubeezi played first team hockey at Michaelhouse and does he feel his game has developed since the debut match?
“I’ve played first team hockey for two years, and have played around 36 games if I am not mistaken. My game has evolved almost completely since my debut. I feel I have grown as a player, adding far more value to the team over time, a more complete player.”
Unsurprisingly (I was privileged to be in the right place at the right time – it was a wonderful occasion) there is no hesitation from Mubeezi as to his most memorable hockey game in the Red and White colours of Michaelhouse.
“It has to be this year’s 4-2 victory over Hilton on Aitken’s Astro, for the simple reason that we hadn’t beaten them in two years and it was my last Hilton/MHS on our home Astro.”
Captain Mubeezi Lubinga (back, 5th from left) and the 2018 Michaelhouse first hockey team with coach Richard Snowden.
On the soccer front, at the time of writing Mubeezi had around 21 first team games under the belt in this the second of his two-year stint in the side. “My influence in the team has changed a bit – more a defensive role than previously, while as a senior player there is more accountability.”
And yet again it’s a Hilton/Michaelhouse that stands out. In this case, as Mubeezi’s fondest soccer memory.
“My most memorable game for Michaelhouse would have to in grade 10 be when we (U16A) beat Hilton 7-1 on Meadows. There was a powerful synergy amongst us that day and that was my best performance in a football match… and it was even more significant in that it was against Hilton.”
Having watched quite a few of their matches, I felt that the Michaelhouse first hockey team had a pretty good season but at the same time an uneasy feeling persisted that it could have produced more. Would Mubeezi agree?
“Our season this year was definitely an improvement on last year but I feel we could’ve done a little bit better with the team we had. When we travelled to Uplands for the ISHF (Independent Schools’ Hockey Festival) we did have one or two games which I feel we could’ve done better. But the biggest disappointment was our 5-0 loss to St John’s at Michaelhouse. That just was not our day.”
Unfortunately a chance for KZN10.com to watch the Michaelhouse firsts soccer lads of 2018 hasn’t become a reality as yet. So what sticks out for Mubeezi this year and what will be recalled when he catches up with his soccer schoolmates on Old Boys’ Days in the future?
“We have had a good year so far. The St David’s tour was a disappointment but at the time of our discussion here, we remain unbeaten in KZN after beating, Northwood, Kearsney and Hilton.
Michaelhouse 1st soccer team (skip Mubeezi, back, 3rd player from left) a happy bunch after beating Northwood 2-0 on Meadows.
“We have the Maritzburg Cup coming up after our half-term break (this BIG Weekend in PMB and Midlands soccer takes place at Howick High from Friday, August 24 to the Sunday, August 26 Finals Day) and then we finish the season against Westville, which could well turn out to be our toughest game.”
So who are the Michaelhouse firsts hockey players that Mubeezi feels have had a particularly good year?
“The first name that springs to mind is Ben Rebeck. He had a spectacular season and I cannot wait to watch him play next year in his 3rd year of 1st team hockey. In terms of discipline and determination, Thabang Moephuli and Dom Leslie are two people who displayed these values through and through – and Angus Ferguson, being the top assister, had a memorable final season too.”
As with hockey, I think it’s fair to say that a soccer team is only as good as the team dynamics. Given the aforementioned, as far as firsts soccer is concerned, and granted that the season is by no means over, who – so far – are the players in Mubeezi’s team that he feels are having enterprising seasons?
Euphoria: Michaelhouse football skipper Mubeezi Lubinga (far left) and team congratulate Thabo Dlamini on his goal in the 2-0 victory over Hilton College.
“Levin Kamau and Thabo Dlamini are both having unreal seasons and it is no surprise Thabo was selected for KZN. Our team is much younger this year but the grade 11’s have really stepped up to the plate and that is one of the main reasons we remain unbeaten in KZN.”
Given his love for both, this is a BIG question: Which of hockey and soccer does Mubeezi prefer? Or is that an unfair question – do they each have their own attractions?
“In all honesty I have grown to prefer hockey over soccer. Nevertheless, each sport has its attractions.”
A COMMANDING PRESENCE: Michaelhouse leader Mubeezi Lubinga brings his personality to the fore on the pitch.
Mubeezi, as mentioned, I have yet to see you play soccer but what struck me in the numerous House firsts hockey matches I was privileged to watch this year, you exhibit a remarkably cool, composed temperament – and lead by example. Traits that are inherent in your make-up and no doubt iterated on the soccer pitch.
Further, you possess the calling card of all outstanding players – unhurried, measured in your actions… which, as far as is possible – given the inevitable “unforeseens” that make sport such an attraction – bring about the desired intentions. Have you always had these enviable characteristics in your game or has it been something you’ve worked on, were you once a bit of a hot-head (lol) on the park?
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“I have never been a hot-head but I have played in many teams with hot-heads!” Mubeezi chuckles.
“Seriously, I feel I always had the characteristics within me that you mentioned, but they really came to the fore towards the end of last year. I guess the more I play and train, the more confident I get – and that confidence allows me to play the game at my pace, enables me to take control. It also allows me to keep my cool in difficult situations during games.”
So at what age did Mubeezi start playing soccer? And which coach has had the most influence in growing his game – and how?
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“I have been playing soccer all my life but for the first time competitively when I was about six years old. This was for a football club in Polokwane. The coach that had the most influence in growing my soccer is probably Michaelhouse’s Mr Ian Crawford. Mr Crawford simply gave me the freedom to express myself – and that season with him was my most successful season to date.”
When did the hockey journey begin? “I started playing hockey when I was 10 at Clifton Nottingham Road. “Our Michaelhouse first team coach Mr (Richard) Snowden has had the most influence in developing my game. I think it’s because Mr Snowden was meticulous with his appraisals and he wanted to see my game flourish – and that just encouraged me to get better and improve everywhere I could.”
Mubeezi’s next answer made me smile! “I always felt my worst games happened when my older brother, Edgar, was watching! Simply because I felt under pressure for some weird reason! However, my younger brother (2018 first team and Old Mutual iWYZE Hockey Nationals U16 Player of the Tournament) Mugabi was a massive boost for me, as well as my mother and my U16A coach, Mrs (Tanith) von Mayer. The memorable wins were infinitely better with the support of these people.”
Mubeezi Lubinga, the Head of Farfield House as Michaelhouse, is planning to study at UCT next year. And in terms of sport? “I am undecided on playing soccer competitively, I am leaning towards playing it socially. On the other hand, I do plan on playing Varsity Cup hockey, so my competitive hockey career will continue.”
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It’s been a pleasure talking to you, Mubeezi. Anything else you would like to add?
“Thanks again, Sir. There is a highlights video of our hockey season, which is available on YouTube at the link https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jI9UBFpjt9E if you or anyone reading this interview is interested.”
Thanks Mubeezi, I will make a point of watching it. Best wishes for your grade 12 exams and for what lies ahead in a future that offers you so many possibilities.
Mom needs a bit of R & R. Just a hop step and jump from Meadows. https://www.fordoun.com/overnight-spa-packages/
Michaelhouse has done you proud. You have done Michaelhouse proud.
For more about Michaelhouse the school, check out https://www.michaelhouse.org/
Michaelhouse’s Ben10 makes the play and wins the day
TO score in the decades-old Michaelhouse/Hilton derby is an achievement many would treasure. Yet on a beautiful KZN midlands May Day in 2018 a feat was achieved that has probably never been achieved before – and possibly never will be again. I toyed with headline possibilities that are heaven-sent chances for headline writers, which they seldom get. “Ben 10 blasts 4”; “4-goal Ben bashes opposition out the Ball Park”. In a dream match, grade 11 Michaelhouse boy Ben Rebeck, playing as an attacking midfielder rather than his preferred striker position, scored all four goals in front of his schoolmates in a dream home match on Aitkens Astro that saw the red-and-white checked underdogs surprise the fancied Hilton College 4-2. The return match at Hilton College did not for Michaelhouse’s way as captain Duncan Fyvie and his Hilton team-mates dominated proceedings. But no one can take that dream May Day on Aitkens away.
Goalbound! Another penalty corner drag-flick scorcher from Ben Rebeck set to balloon the back of the Hilton College net on Michaelhouse’s 5th of May Day.
Ben Rebeck thrives on pressure, never more evident than in a fighting half-century on Goldstones first term 2018 in a lost cause against the rampant Maritzburg College first XI bowling quartet spearheaded by 16-year-old SA Schools and SA U19 fast bowler Mondli Khumalo and fellow quicks Cameron Hollaway, Jayden Gengan and Shaun-Lee Elliott.
Fighting spirit: Ben Rebeck made a courageous half-century in a losing cause against a rampant Maritzburg College pace bowling quartet on Goldstones in the first term this 2018 year that said much about his calm and composed demeanour in a sporting crisis. At one stage House were 1 run for 5 wickets and then 9 for 6 in a 2,5 day match lost by an innings.
Photo Jono Cook
As the Michaelhouse first hockey team penalty corner drag-flick and penalty flick go-to man, key playmaker and field goal marksman a lot rests on the Rebeck shoulder blades.
“I love the pressure – and accepting responsibility for doing my job for the team,” says Ben. “I know that if I don’t score then the key is to force a save out of the keeper so I find it definitely focuses my mind. The pressures vary depending on the match situation, but I always know that I’ve put in the work and that I’m ready to score.
The five-star Fordoun Hotel Spa and Restaurant is but a Ben Rebeck drag-flick rocket away from Aitkens Astro at Michaelhouse. A great place for recharging the batteries during a hectic sporting weekend.
“My preferred position is striker as it gives me a lot of freedom to express myself and I enjoy the pressure of taking opportunities to score goals for my team. This year I’ve also been playing as a high central midfielder as we felt I could offer the team a dual role, through always looking to go forward and setting up scoring opportunities for others.”
“Ben 10” is the chant and the song that echoes across Aitkens Astro in the park-life surrounds of beautiful Michaelhouse when the loyal, hugely supportive Boys of House who pack the terraces on the School side of the turf give praise to their super-hero.
Ben Rebeck raises his arms after nailing his fourth goal in the 5 May 2018 defeat of Hilton College on Aitkens Astro.
They did just that and more, much more, on the 4-2 Dream May 5 Day.
Ben’s prowess has earned recognition.
“When I was at Clifton Prep, Durban, I was selected for the KZN Coastal teams up to U13 and since I’ve been at Michaelhouse I’ve played in three Hockey Nationals for the KZN Inland U14 and U16 teams. It was really great to be selected for the SA U16 squad in 2016 and 2017, both of which were fantastic experiences. This year I played in the KZN Inland U18A in the Old Mutual iWYZE Hockey Nationals at Maritzburg College where our aim was to win the tournament – we had a brilliant squad and coaches. Unfortunately we lost to KZN Coastal in the final.”
Ben’s excellent week in the striker role was rewarded with his selection for the SA U17 High Performance squad. Indeed, Ben 10 would not have looked out of place in the SA U18B or SA U18A sides, the latter team edged by Australia U17 Schoolboys in a thrilling series subsequent to Hockey Nationals.
Benj has also enjoyed memorable moments in club hockey.
“Playing for Kearsney Hockey Club firsts under Sihle Sigz Ntuli in last year’s Belgotex Greenfields Elite Club Challenge at Riverside was a big highlight for me. It was exciting playing at such a high level and I enjoyed the regular league games. That will hopefully continue this season, as the Michaelhouse school season has ended.”
Ben 10 has just enjoyed his second year in the Michaelhouse first hockey team and has notched up around 40 first team appearances. “Michaelhouse doesn’t seem to play quite as many matches as other schools but I hope to make it past 50 caps next year as I’m in grade 11.
“I’m grateful to the coaches at Michaelhouse who last year convinced the management of the school to relax the policy that grade 10s aren’t allowed to play in the first team. I have become calmer and more comfortable in my role in the team since my debut. I’m also grateful to players like Mike Menear and Nick Forster who helped me to settle in very easily last year… that helped me to focus on scoring goals. I feel greater freedom on the ball this year as the pressure of being the youngster in the team and trying to avoid errors has diminished.
Ben 10’s most memorable game in the Red and White colours of Michaelhouse?
“Apart from my debut in 2017 against Westville, which we lost, my most memorable game for Michaelhouse was this year’s first match versus Hilton College. We won 4-2, a game which many thought we would lose. Things went my way on the day and I was able to score all four goals for the team. I don’t think I’ll ever forget the camaraderie of my team-mates and the school on that day. It feels so great to contribute.”
Faultless communication is key to the success of a penalty corner combination.
As Ben illustrated with some electrifying goals this year, having the ability to project penalty corner drag-flick missiles into the back of the net is a big weapon in his make-up. So what key ingredients lead into the probability of successfully engineering one of those trademark Ben 10 lightning strikes?
The penalty corner injector’s speed and accuracy, followed by the skills of the PC trapper: Their efforts enable Ben to have more placement options.
“A good push and a good stop are critical for the flicker to be able to put the ball where he wants to. If either is slightly off, the flicker must either quickly adjust his timing and target, or pull out of the flick altogether. Michaelhouse captain Mubeezi Lubinga has a quick, accurate injection and Tom Gibson is an excellent trapper so, if the surface of the Astro is reliable, they give me the best chance of getting off a good flick on target. It’s the flicker who gets the credit for the goal but it’s really very much a team effort.”
The Michaelhouse first team have blown hot, very hot, and cold, very cold, this season.
While human error led the Michaelhouse firsts hockey team from a red-hot performance one weekend to an error-ridden damp squib the next, your security demands 100% consistency 24/7/365. Titan Technologies products gives you the ultimate in weekend away security.
“We had a shaky start, although we did beat the strong Westville side in our second match, but we quickly improved and were on a 7-match winning streak until a disastrous loss to St John’s College brought us down to earth again. Nothing went right that day. The match against Maritzburg College on our Aitkens Astro was one of the most exciting I’ve played in.”
Indeed, it will go down as one of the KZN10.com Super Saturday matches of the season. The Rebeck Factor was shown to great effect but Michaelhouse came out on the wrong side of a 12-goal (7-5) blockbuster. There was a quiet satisfaction in edging the previously unbeaten Clifton College side in the season’s penultimate match before being thoroughly undone by Hilton on Beckingham’s in the season finale.
Ben’s hockey career began in grade 4 or thereabouts: “As far back as I can remember I played hockey, but I think it was in grade 4 at Clifton Durban that I started to love it. A defining year for me was grade 6 when coach Mr Glenn Jones included me in the Clifton Prep First XI. His love for the game and passion for coaching us really sparked something in me. I enjoyed his intensity and feel like I still feed off that today.
Comfortable, clear vision is a non-negotiable in sport. If your game form is on the blink it’s time to look no further than Hilliar & Gray.
“I’ve had so many brilliant coaches at school, at the various age-group Hockey Nationals and in the SA squads. but Mr Glenn Jones is the one who really moved the needle early on for me.”
Family and friends have, and still are, playing a pivotal role in the Ben Rebeck Hockey Success Story:
“My mom and dad have been incredibly supportive so far. They’ve hardly missed a game. My dad finds it hard to sit still during a match so they usually find standing room somewhere. They keep telling me they love watching me play, whatever the result. That means a lot. They feel the same about my sister, Sophie – she’s in this year’s KZN Inland U16B team.
Ben Rebeck’s selection for the SA U17 High Performance squad at the culmination of the Old Mutual iWYZE U18 Hockey Nationals was just reward for an outstanding season in Michaelhouse and KZN Inland colours.
“My parents’ approach has helped Sophie and I to keep a healthy perspective on things and grow our love for sport. Also, the matrics in last year’s Michaelhouse first XI were brilliant in making me feel an important part of the team. Knowing they backed me was a big plus. Fortunately I haven’t had a major injury and I know that if I keep working on my game and fitness, my chances of getting injured are minimised.
Ben’s final thoughts on one of his standout skills: “I aim for 100% of penalty corner drag-flicks to be on target – and then to convert the majority into goals. My success rate percentage is on the up, which is good, but I’m not satisfied. There’s no question that the more balls I flick in training during the week the more speed and accuracy I get in the next match.
“I find it’s a bit like a golf swing – you have to go to the range.”
Well said, Ben. Your combination of humbleness, modesty and respect, self-confidence and ambition will stand you in good stead.
KZN10.com wishes you all the best.
BEN REBECK SELECTIONS
At Clifton Prep in Durban
KZN Coastal teams through to U13
At Michaelhouse
KZN Inland U14
KZN Inland U16A (2 consecutive years)
SA U16 selection 2016 & 2017
KZN Inland U18A
2018 SA U17 High Performance squad
2019: Watch this space…
* Kearsney Hockey Club (2017 Belgotex Greenfields Elite Club Challenge)
Ben 10 in 20 Seconds
The vociferous Michaelhouse band of supporters Aitkens Astro side have a song/chant about schoolmate “Ben 10”. The grade 11 Michaelhouse hockey player Ben Rebeck wears the number 10 on his shirt and can play just about any role. Schoolboys are good with nickames. The animated TV hero Ben 10 is Ben Tennyson, a 10-year-old boy whose magical device can turn him into 10 different heroes. The KZN10.com Ben 10, playing striker for silver medalists KZN Inland 18A during the recent iWYZE Hockey Nationals, was in fine fettle both in field play and and with his deadly penalty corner drag-flicks/penalty strokes. His prowess was rewarded with selection for the SA U17 High Performance squad. So who is “our” Ben 10 when he’s off the hockey pitch.
BEN REBECK IN 20 SECONDS
Favourite food: Sushi
Actor: Ryan Reynolds
Actress: Camila Mendes
TV show: Riverdale
Holiday: Anywhere near the sea
Board game: 30 seconds
Car: Jeep
Nickname: Benj
Benj in one word: Calm
Fave breakfast: Avo on toast
Three desert island must-haves: Suncream because I’m ginger, a bed and sushi
Four things I can’t live without: Friends and Family, the beach, hockey, sushi
Favourite quote: “You miss 100% of the shots you never take”
If I could attend any sports event: Olympic Games
Down time: Movies and playing with my dogs
On your screensaver: My girlfriend and I
Sharp 20/20 vision is a key factor in the making of a quality hockey player.
Remember when… The 2007 KZN10 hockey season in review
I’ve thrown in a number of bits and pieces from my memories of that year.
Featured image: 2007 Kearsney College captain & SA Schools defender Greg Last who went on to represent SA and play for numerous seasons in KZN Raiders title-winning teams and in Europe for his Belgian club.
Maritzburg College were the top-rated KZN team, having played 17 games won 14 lost 3.
Living Legend: Mike Bechet… an incredible record as a schoolboy hockey coach in SA.
Next up with 15 goals were the penalty corner drag-flick guided missiles of the exceptionally strong powerfully-built left ⬅ half Tyron Mingard who wasn’t the sort of guy a striker looked forward to playing against.
Nine Maritzburg College first team players represented KZN Midlands at the Interprovincial Nationals in Port Elizabeth.
The Willowton, Pietermaritzburg based Greenfields team are now the biggest players in the synthetic sports turf market with prominent names in the SA hockey fraternity such as the legend that is Tommy Hammond among the staff led by former outstanding player and current international umpire Ayden Shrives.
Thomas More College had their first player selected for SA Schools – current Kearsney College first team head coach Sihle Ntuli.
In 2007 the current Kearsney College head coach Sihle Sigz Ntuli became the first (and only) Thomas More College boy to be selected for SA Schools.
* Astonishing when one looks at it now, Clifton College – one of the top teams in SA this year – were a second-tier hockey school in 2007. Clifton’s rapid hockey progress is one of the most remarkable KZN10 success stories.
Shedders’ holiday High Performance cricket camps a game-changer
ANDREW Shedlock has taken the art of cricket coaching to the next level. Two High Performance Shedders Cricket Academy camps, to be held in Durban North from 25 to 28 June and 9 to 12 July could be the turning point in KZN schoolboy cricketers’ lives. Critically, in my opinion, each camp is limited to a maximum 20 boys.
If I was age 13 to 17 again this would have been the catalyst in turning a (so-I’m-still-told) talented top-order batsman with a sound technique (thanks to Digby Rhodes, Vince van der Bijl and others) into a far better batter.
Although I captained the Maritzburg College first XI and made some runs, as a perfectionist I found myself so frustrated with the technical and mental aspects of surely – next to golf – one of the most complex ball sports around. The frustration at knowing I was not making any progress in taking my game to the next level resulted in (later much-regretted) giving up the game a couple of years post-school.
Enough of that. Coming across the Shedders ad, the first instinct was to have a look, as Andrew Shedlock and I go back 42 years, as opponents and friends. So what has Shedders got on the menu, I thought. Well, it blew me away.
Shedders, a University of Stellenbosch sports science graduate and internationally respected coach and cricket-specific fitness and conditioning consultant with the CV to prove it, has in my opinion nailed down the key to cricket success.
Featured image: Shedders has worked with legends of the game. Here’s Shedders with Sri Lanka cricket legend Kumar Sangakkara, the elegant left-hander and wicketkeeper who scored a total of 28 000 runs for his country across all formats and retired with a Test average of 57.40. Shedders’ direct contact with some of the world’s best cricketers has been of enormous practical benefit to his coaching skill set.
Apart from comprehensive batting and bowling sessions with top-class professional coaches that on its own will establish a solid platform for the upcoming cricket season (starting as early as the third term in KZN), Shedders has also teamed up with Durban North-based optometrist Glen Nugent and sports fitness and talent identification educationist eta College in offering a three-pronged approach to his camps.
I phoned him, wanting to know more.
“Thanks Jono, always good to chat. I’ll never forget that U13A game on Leeches at Maritzburg College when you were College skipper and I was DHS captain. Great memories.”
A deep thinker on the game, Shedders is constantly looking for the edge that turns “good enough” into best. The research and success-in-practice of Shedders’ internationally-acclaimed fellow University of Stellenbosch sports science graduate Dr Sherylle Calder’s EyeGym programme inspired one section of the three-pronged content of the upcoming camps. Dr Calder pinpointed Visual Intelligence training as a key tool in making a better player.
Shedders says, “a batsman’s ability in making the transition from seeing the ball to immediately processing that split-second information into employing the correct cricket stroke can make or break an innings. This is just one aspect of transferring vision into decision.”
“Sherylle worked with the 2003 World Cup-winning Australian cricket side, as well as David Miller in enhancing performance and clearly Dave and the Aussies reaped the rewards, as did the England (2003) and Springbok (2007) Rugby World Cup-winning players.”
Known for his get-in-the-trenches work ethic, one of the Andrew ‘Shedders’ Shedlock mottoes is: “Cricket is a verb not a noun so get training!”
“I’ve identified the much-talked-about but little understood hand-eye co-ordination aspect as one of the keys to unlocking the mysteries behind why talented KZN high school cricketers struggle to deliver consistent performances. I constantly hear things like ‘you can’t teach it, you’ve either got it or you haven’t’, and ‘he’s naturally gifted’. My response? A cricketer as gifted as David Miller benefited from visual intelligence training, Dave saying that it provided him with the extra edge to perform at a high level. Every cricketer, be it a batsman, bowler, wicketkeeper or fielder, constantly searches for consistency. That’s why I see this aspect as a vital function of the camps.”
To this end, the Shedders cricket camps’ optometrist, Glen Nugent, will conduct an eye and vision assessment for each player and provide the boys with follow-up cricket-specific exercises and drills to work on.
Fitness is another key indicator of success or failure. The ability to concentrate without distraction in turning a quality 50 into a match-winning hundred… or converting a useful 3-fer into a match-deciding fifer can, in my opinion, be best-judged by whether a schoolboy has the mental and physical stamina to maintain best-practice and accuracy whatever the outside influences and circumstances may be.
Shedders says this is where eta (exercise training academy) step into the camp package: “eta will conduct fitness testing services to assess current athletic abilities and to identify physical attributes and areas in need of improvement. Baseline fitness testing allows for the setting of goals and testing at regular intervals. It helps track a cricketer’s progress towards those goals.”
The fitness assessments/tests to be completed will include:
* Functional Movement Screening
* Body Composition Assessments
* Flexibility Assessments
*Agility Assessments
* Power and Speed Assessments
* Balance and Hand/Eye Co-ordination Assessments
* Power and Speed Assessments
* Cardio-respiratory Assessments
* Muscle Strength/Endurance Assessments
*Nutritional/Dietary Assessments
Clearly there is not going to be much idle time for the camps’ young cricketers. No doubt there wasn’t much idle time for a just-out-of-school Hashim Amla when Shedders was head coach of the Dolphins Cricket Academy. Hashim Amla is quoted as saying that Shedders is a coach who had a positive influence on his cricket career.
To sum up: I’ve seen Shedders in action – no “only-observe-from-the-sidelines” coach, he’s not afraid to get in the trenches. Ask Jonty Rhodes and Lance Klusener, to whom Shedders must have each pitched a thousand-plus throw-downs during his time with the Dolphins.
Shedders has the sports science background, world-level sports-playing (he’s also a former Springbok water polo player) and international cricket title-winning experience to appreciate what it takes to succeed.
Shedders is the kind of guy I’d go to war with. He’s a leader who is never afraid to push the boundaries harder and further in every sphere of cricket excellence.
My only regret about Shedders? His June/July cricket camps weren’t around when Jono Cook the aspirant teenage cricketer needed them. After a good first term, I had a shocking fourth term.
I’m convinced it would’ve been different if Shedders’ camps had been around in my time.
Unlike me, today’s KZN high school cricketers have got that opportunity.
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW
LIMITED TO 20 BOYS PER CAMP
Camp 1
Mon 25th to Thurs 28th June
Camp 2
Mon 9th to Thurs 12th July
Ages: 13 to 17
Time: 2pm to 4.30pm daily
Venue: Shedders Cricket Academy Durban North
Contact Shedders at 083 791 7646
or shedders@worldonline.co.za