SA School Sports

It’s that time of year where it is difficult to escape the strains of Christmas music on the radio, Black Friday specials and tinsel in shopping centres. Thoughts are focused on how heavy the turkey is and for just how long it needs to be in the Weber. Groundsmen all around the country are enjoying the fact that the pitches can receive some much-needed attention and no wickets need to be prepared for the endless stream of matches demanded by the schools’ cricket programme.

In a season that has seen several twists and turns at the top half of the rankings table the final standings are out with SACS ending the year as the No.1 team in the country.

Wynberg put in one of their finest performances of the year when they caused a minor upset by beating the high-flying Rondebosch team by 5 wickets over the weekend.

The school cricket results for this week for all the U14, U15, U16 and First XI's are here:

After a busy few weeks which has seen many of the leading teams in action, we are looking at a very tightly bunched top half of the table with Rondebosch fractionally ahead of SACS, Grey HS and Hilton College.

This Week’s Top 60 First XI Cricket Rankings:

The cricket season has resumed for many teams across the country and already we have seen some great results with the bat and ball.

St Stithians remarkable run of form which included winning their 4^th Coca-Cola T20 Schools Challenge title has helped to boost them to the top of this week’s First XI Top 60 Rankings.

The first half of the U14 cricket season has virtually drawn to a close in what has been a season of mixed fortunes for several of the bigger names.

This Week’s U15 Cricket Rankings:

Jeppe remain on the top of this week’s First XI Rankings by a whisker after succumbing to their neighbours St.Stithians which has served to tighten up the field at the top of the table.

We are looking at a two horse race at the moment on this week’s U15 Top 50 Cricket Rankings with Maritzburg College duelling it out for the top spot with Rondebosch.

There are two big movers on this week’s Top 60 First XI Rankings after the dust has settled following an action packed week which saw most of the top teams in action.

There are plenty of cross provincial matches on the go with the Independent School week taking place and several teams on tour.

Not as many matches were played last week across South Africa with many teams enjoying a midterm break from action.

However St Andrews College make an entry into this week’s top five zone after stringing together several wins on the trot including a valuable win over Grey High who they managed to beat by 4 wickets.

Grey HS find themselves camping just outside the top 10 of this Week’s First XI Rankings and it was Tiaan van Vuuren who took 4/42 which helped Grey HS get over the line against Selborne College last week.

Travis Norris was in good form for Bishops against the touring Malvern College team from the UK with a classy 82 runs and Tebogo Faas snatched a five for in Wynberg’s win over Affies.

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There is a big jump in standard when a player is exposed to high school cricket and always a test of a schools potential depth for the years to come.

There were plenty of T20 matches played last week with several upset results which have sent a minor tremor through this week’s First XI Top 60 Rankings.

Let it be stated right at the outset that we are still in the very early stages of the U15 cricket season with many teams yet to have played a decent amount of matches to help produce a stable ranking.

Jeppe hit the top of this week’s First XI Cricket Rankings after completing a very comfortable win over St David’s Inanda last week and they have the makings of a powerful team in 2019.

Rondebosch are the team that hits the front after failing to lose a single match in their first 10 outings and take a firm grip on the No.1 spot at the start of the season.

The U14 Cricket Rankings for 2018 has a similar look to this year’s First XI Rankings in that the top part of the table is virtually identical.

A brilliant season by the Grey High School U15 team has left them looking down on the rest of the teams in the country as they lay claim to the leading team in South Africa.

The 2018 First XI Cricket season has finally come to its conclusion, the final ball bowled, caps tipped and handshakes all round.

It was the run machine Zack Momberg from KES who slammed his way to an unbeaten double ton against Pretoria Boys High which has helped his side close in on the leading teams on this week’s U15 Top 60 Rankings.

Another crunching win over the weekend by Hilton College over DHS helps to keep the KZN midlands team rock solid at the helm of this week’s First XI Top 60 Rankings.

A brilliantly struck unbeaten century by Maritzburg College’s Stefan Delport has helped to keep the PMB side knocking on the door of the top 5 zone on this week’s U15 Cricket Rankings.

What is immediately striking when looking at this week’s U14 Cricket Rankings is that they are virtually a carbon copy of the First XI Rankings for this week.

KES put in a huge performance against Affies to close the gap on the leading teams and the Johannesburg team will be hoping for a strong finish to the season and maybe finish as the top team on this year’s First XI Top 60 Rankings.

Grey High School continue to have a strangle hold on this year’s U15 Cricket Rankings and hold the number one ranking once again for this week.

Hilton College showed why they are regarded as possibly one of the finest school cricket teams in the world when they cantered to a comfortable victory over Westville to lead this week’s First XI Cricket Rankings.

Lehan Kirchner of Affies slammed his way to a brilliant 115 runs in their draw with Grey High School and it is that result along with a couple of wins that keep Affies in the top five on this week’s U14 Cricket Rankings.

Grey High School hit the front on this week’s U15 Cricket Rankings after completing a very successful campaign over the past few weeks.

KES put together one of their finest wins of 2018 when they took on the KZN powerhouse, Hilton College at the Oppenheimer Festival which helps to nudge them up to the second spot on this week’s First XI Top 50 Rankings.

Jaco Beneke slammed his way to an unbeaten century for Affies in their win over Paarl Boys High which has helped the Pretoria side to move up this week’s SA School Sports U15 Rankings.

Affies rocket up the table on this week’s SA School Sports First XI Rankings following a great win over Paul Roos Gym during the past weekend.

Matt van Der Mescht from Affies hammered his way to an unbeaten 155 runs over the weekend against Centurion which helped to not only secure the win but help Affies move up to the second spot on this week’s U14 Cricket Rankings.

Two wins by Maritzburg College during the past week has helped the Pietermaritzburg team to still entertain hopes of finishing higher up the table but at present they are well positioned in the top three of this week’s U15 Top 50 Rankings.

Selborne College kicked started their season with a fairly comfortable win over Hudson Park which helps to nudge them further up this week’s First XI Rankings.

If anyone was wondering what the long lay-off had done to the form of Hilton College, they showed that if anything they are stronger than ever.

KES resumed their cricket season with a clutch of victories which saw many of their batsmen scoring heavily which has all helped to keep them amongst the leading U15 teams on this week’s Rankings.

The 2018 cricket season resumes with several of the leading teams already back in action and relishing the chance to continue the dual between willow and leather.

Hilton College have emerged as a powerhouse of school cricket in South Africa and by the look of their U14 team it appears that this may long continue.

As the first half of the 2018 season comes to an end we have Grey High School firmly entrenched at the top of the Belgotex Sports U15 Rankings.

The first stage of 2018 Cricket season has come to a close and once again we have witnessed some impressive school cricket from around the country.

Rondebosch put one last effort in last weekend before the final showdown of the first part of the season when they took on Bishops and came home with a crushing victory.

This week’s U14 Cricket Rankings has a familiar look to it with Hilton College resuming their position at the top of the table followed by Clifton.

Grey High School continue to command the top of the table on this week’s Belgotex Sports U15 Rankings and it really looks like it will take something extraordinary to oust them from the No.1 spot.

There was some good quality cricket on display last week especially at the Independent Schools festival which gave the KZN teams a chance to measure their skills against teams for some of the other provinces.

KES continue to knock on the door of the No.1 spot as they once again put on a winning brand of cricket that included three back to back victories.

Hilton College slipped down from the top spot after taking two cricketing lessons from Joburg teams at the U15 Independent Schools Festival.