SOUTH AFRICA, The Eastern Cape 2008

Far Beyond a Boundary 
 

…for a Surrey village club in South Africa 
 
 

Claygate Cricket Club’s February 2008 Tour of the Eastern Cape was no ordinary overseas club tour. For the tour party of 25 cricketers and 20 friends and family, this tour was to be less about a cricketing holiday and more about the significance of whom and where we were playing. No one who went failed to be moved by the experience. They discovered the true meaning of CLR James' famous dictum in 'Beyond a Boundary': what does he know of cricket who only cricket knows.

 
 

Following our experience of visiting South Africa in 2001, the club had specifically wanted to play against teams with a wider representation of ethnic backgrounds. With the help of the Border Cricket Board, we arranged three of our nine matches against teams in the black townships of King Williams Town, Mdantsane and Middledrift and a final day/night match against a Border Invitation XI at the picturesque international ground at Buffalo Park, mostly drawn from cricketers from the townships who had been involved in cricket development over many years. 
 

On arrival, we quickly found that amateur touring teams from outside South Africa rarely ventured so far away from the main centres of Cape Town and Johannesburg. In two of the townships we were also told we were the first white side to play against them – a revelation that reflected the deep divisions that still exist in South Africa. 
 

The welcomes we received at the three townships venues were overwhelming in their scope and generosity of spirit which radiated from our hosts. We were escorted to the grounds by marching youth bands, cricket and other regional officials held welcoming ceremonies and the hosts laid on excellent food and entertainment. South Africa’s leading fast bowler, Makhaya Ntini, came to one of the matches so that he could address the young players and encourage them to pursue their interest in cricket. 
 

This tour was inspired by and organised by club member Dillon Woods who was born in South Africa and is the son of the late South African journalist and anti-apartheid campaigner Donald Woods. In 1978 Donald Woods was the first private citizen to address the UN Security Council. We were based in East London which had been the location of Dillon’s family home until 1977 when they had to flee South Africa – the story famously recounted in the 1987 Richard Attenborough Academy Award-nominated film Cry Freedom.  
 

Dillon is now the CEO of the Donald Woods Foundation, a charity set up to support the needs and talents of the poorest and most vulnerable people in South Africa, currently running the largest rural anti-Aids Treatment and Care programme in the country as well as health programmes for TB, blindness prevention and sight restoration for cataract sufferers. 
 

We were well hosted by all the clubs we visited but the white clubs told us that they were fearful for the future of cricket in South Africa because too many talented white players at all levels were either giving up cricket or leaving South Africa to find work and financial security in Europe or Australia. However these clubs seemed to know little of the cricket being played close by in the black townships where we found hundreds of talented youngsters who loved the game and who just needed encouragement, facilities and opportunity.  
 

The townships seemed to be looking towards us, a small village club from 6000 miles away, more than to the established clubs far closer by to help accelerate their development. Anticipating this, the club had decided to try and raise money to purchase cricket equipment for the development of cricket in the townships. We raised more than we expected in a short period of time – enough to purchase 14 team cricket bags of kit including 57 bats, 22 sets of pads, 23 helmets and 14 sets of wicket keeping equipment for several different clubs which were handed over at our last match at Buffalo Park. 
 

That this was no ordinary cricket tour was picked up by a small independent TV production company, Proper TV, who asked if they could travel with us to film the tour. We agreed and hope that a major TV channel will purchase the resulting programme in order to help raise the profile of cricket development in the townships and the work of the Donald Woods Foundation. 
 

For the record, we won four of the nine matches on the tour including chasing over 200 in our final match at Buffalo Park under lights making this our most successful tour ever.

 Despite a cyclone hitting East London whilst we were there none of the matches were affected. We also packed in heritage and cultural tours, game reserves and activities on land and sea. We all came home with memories that will live with us for a long time.  
 

Claygate Cricket Club is a small village club in Surrey which has been undertaking overseas tours every couple of years since 1995. So far we have been to Sri Lanka, Barbados, Goa, Western Cape, Trinidad and Tobago and St Lucia. 
 

The planning starts soon for our 2010 tour. Wherever that is, it will be difficult to top this trip. 
 
 

Claygate Cricket Club

February 2008 
 

 

 FIXTURES
Match 1 at Ama Cal'egusha
 
Claygate 204 for 9
Paul Burt 22, Matt Holmes 44, Chris Howe 42, Jamie Henderson 47, Joel Watkins 24
 
Ama Cal'egusha 131 all out
Kevin Harrington 5 for 29, Steve Wells 2 for 18
 
Match 2 at Old Selbournians Club, East London
 
Gypsies 174 all out
Joel Watkins 2 for 19, Jon Law 2 for 5
 
Claygate 80 all out
 
Match 3 at Old Selbournians Club, East London
 
Old Selbournians 245 all out
Luke Webb 3 for 32
 
Claygate 108 all out
 
Match 4 at Mdantsane
 
Claygate 121 all out
Chris Howe 36, Jamie Hennderson 36
 
Mdantsane 122 for 5
Nigel Abbott 2 for 16, Matt Holmes 2 for 12
 
Match 5 at Middledrift
 
Claygate 229 for 6
Russ Guyatt 58, Paul Burt 67, Dave Price 21, Dan Maskell 50
 
Xesi 181 all out
Kevin Harrinton 3 for 36, Matt Holmes 2 for 10, Dillon Woods 3 for 35
 
Match 6 at Bedford
 
Middleton Cricket Club 165 for 6
Chris Howe 2 for 18
 
Claygate 169 for 8
Steve Salmon 28, Chris Howe 49, Gareth Davies 20
 
Match 7 at Hamms Social Club, East London
 
Hamms 229 for 9
 
Claygate 166 all out
Jamie Henderson 35, Dillon Woods 22, Chris Lewis 35, Suranjan Cooray 26
 
Match 8 at Hamms Social Club, East London
 
Rhodes 198 all out
Henry Vincent 4 for 36, Nigel Abbott 3 for 30
 
Claygate 72 all out
Jake Dear 20 not out
 
Match 9 at Buffalo Park, East London
 
Border Invitation XI 206 all out
Dave Price 3 for 8
 
Claygate 209 for 5
Rufus Legg 38, Chris Howe 70, Jamie Henderson 47 not out
 
 

 

Averages

 

Batting

 

  1. Jamie Henderson 171 runs @ 42.75
  2. Russ Guyatt 74 runs @ 37.00
  3. Chris Howe 216 runs @ 30.86
  4. Paul Burt 102 runs @ 25.50
  5. Jake Dear 24 runs @ 24
  6. Matt Holmes 83 runs @ 20.75
  7. Suranjan Cooray 41 runs @ 20.50
  8. Dan Maskell 58 runs @ 14.50
  9. Dave Price 72 runs @ 14.40
  10. Dillon Woods 56 runs @ 14.40
  11. Rufus Legg 52 runs @ 13.00
  12. Andy Spector 13 runs @ 13.00
  13. Joel Watkins 63 runs @ 12.60
  14. Chris Lewis 50 runs @ 12.50
  15. Nigel Abbott 12 runs @ 12.00
  16. Steve Salmon 35 runs @ 11.67
  17. Luke Webb 11 runs @ 11.00
  18. Gareth Davies 34 runs @ 8.50
  19. Tom Law 24 runs @ 8.00
  20. Steve Wells 16 runs @ 8.00
  21. Henry Vincent 15 runs @ 7.50
  22. Kevin Harrington 11 runs @ 3.67
  23. Ian Manton 7 runs @ 3.50
  24. Jon Law 3 runs @ 0.75
  25. Gareth Davies 0 runs @ 0.00

 

Highest scores

 

70 Chris Howe

67 Paul Burt

58 Russ Guyatt

50 Dan Maskell

49 Chris Howe

47* Jamie Henderson

47 Jamie Henderson

44 Matt Holmes

42 Chris Howe

 

Top Partnerships

 

101 – Russ Guyatt & Paul Burt

100 – Russ Guyatt, Dave Price & Dan Maskell

98 – Rufus Legg & Chris Howe

 

Bowling

 

  1. Dan Maskell                 1.3-0-3-1         3.00                 2.00
  2. Steve Wells                  8-0-32-3          10.67               4.00
  3. Nigel Abbott                22-0-78-7        11.14               3.55
  4. Kevin Harrington          21-0-114-9      12.67               5.43
  5. Russ Guyatt                  7-1-29-2          14.50               4.14
  6. Henry Vincent              19-1-105-7      15.00               5.53
  7. Gareth Davies               3.5-0-31-2       15.50               8.09
  8. Luke Webb                  21.2-1-102-6   17.00               4.78
  9. Jon Law                       11-0-54-3        18.00               4.91
  10. Dillon Woods               15.5-0-116-6   19.30               7.33
  11. Joel Watkins                 24-3-97-4        24.25               4.04
  12. Matt Holmes                25-5-113-4      28.25               4.52
  13. Dave Price                   25-2-153-5      30.60               6.12
  14. Chris Lewis                  21-3-119-2      59.50               5.66
  15. Chris Howe                  24.2-0-185-3   61.67               7.60
  16. Ian Manton                   8-0-66-1          66.00               8.25
  17. Suranjan Cooray          3-0-11-0          x                      3.67
  18. Tom Law                     5-0-24-0          x                      4.80
  19. Steve Salmon               6-0-33-0          x                      5.50
  20. Paul Burt                      6-0-49-0          x                      8.16
  21. Andy Spector               3-0-29-0          x                      9.67
  22. Jake Dear                     3-0-33-0          x                      11.00
  23. Rufus Legg                   1-0-12-0          x                      12.00

 

Best Bowling

 

5 for 29 – Kevin Harrington

4 for 36 – Henry Vincent

3 for 8 – Dave Price

3 for 30 – Nigel Abbott

3 for 32 – Luke Webb

3 for 35 – Dillon Woods

3 for 36 – Kevin Harrington

 

Fielding

 

5 - Paul Burt (4/1), Rufus Legg (2/3)

4 – Jamie Henderson (3/1)

3 – Gareth Davies, Chris Howe, Tom Law, Chris Lewis, Henry Vincent

2 – Russ Guyatt, Matt Holmes, Jon Law

1 – Nigel Abbott, Suranjan Cooray, Jake Dear, Dave Price, Joel Watkins, Luke Webb

 

Net 6s competition

 

-6 Chris Lewis

-5 Chris Howe, Ian Manton

-3 Steve Salmon

-2 Jake Dear, Matt Holmes, Dave Price, Andy Spector

-1 Paul Burt, Kevin Harrington, Henry Vincent, Steve Wells

0 Dillon Woods

+1 Suranjan Cooray

 

 

We start South African tour with a victory  

 

 11th February 2008 
 
 
 

Claygate's tour of South Africa started with an unusual event – a victory in their first game! .

Claygate were playing Ama Cal'egusha, a black township side in King Williamstown- 50 miles from their base in  East London. 
 

The location was at a ground funded by the Border Cricket Development Council which provides a location for local township sides to play both league and other fixtures. Makhaya Ntini, the South Africa fast bowler grew up in a village close by. 
 

  
 
 

Batting first, Claygate made an impressive start with Paul Burt (22) and Matt Holmes (44) putting on a fine opening stand of 61 . Chris  Howe and Jamie Henderson followed up with with another 50 run partnership, with Howe reaching 42 and Henderson 44. Wickets fell quickly as Claygate pushed on in their 35 overs to reach 204 for 9.  

 

Opening the bowling, 17 year old Kevin Harrington, proceeded to demolish the opposition with a fine spell of 5 for 29 from 6 overs as the Ama Cal'egusha side were reduced to 50 for 6 with little hope of achieving Claygate's total. Veteran Steve Wells weighed in with 2 wickets as Claygate completed the victory by 73 runs. 
 

Thanking the local townships for staging the event, Dillon Woods, a leading Claygate player and chief executive of the Donald Woods Foundation  ( who are partners with Claygate on the tour), paid tribute to the organisation of the hosts . A spokesman for the Border Cricket Association said that were absolutely delighted that Claygate had made the huge effort of coming to play at their ground. 
 

 

After the initial flush of success , it was 'business as usual' for the Dalmore Avenue side, as they lost both of their fixtures on Saturday against a veteran representative side from the local leagues- Gypsies - and another against Old Selbornians. 
In the first game, Claygate put in a fine bowling performance with 2 wickets each for Joel Watkins (2 -19) John Law (2 - 6) with one each for Nigel Abbott, Steve Wells, Henry Vincent and Chris Lewis. Gypsies finished on174 for 9. 
 

The batting however proved brittle against fine Gypsies bowling, Claygate making only 80. 
 

In the second game, Claygate faced ferocious batting from Old Selbornians with the home side setting a huge target of 245 for 6 in their allotted 32 overs. Luke Webb starred with the ball taking 3 for 32. Unsurprisingly Claygate never looked in the hunt, finishing on 108 with only Matt Holmes looking comfortable with a useful 38. 
 
 
 

17th February 2008 


 
 
 

Claygate Cricket Cub continued their successful South African tour with two victories and one defeat, bringing their tour record to won three - lost three – their most successful record in seven international tours. 
 

One of the major features of the tour has been the club playing three black township sides in an attempt to help the development of cricket in deprived areas. 

Before the first of these games at Mdantsane, (the second largest black township in the country) the team were met by a brass band and led to the ground in extraordinary fashion. The local school was given the day off to watch the game, meaning several hundred children were able to make up a special element of the day. 


 

 

On a slow pitch and difficult outfield, Claygate found it a challenge to get the ball off the square,

 but the ever reliable Chris Howe and Jamie Henderson with 36 each - moved the score to 121 from 35 overs.  
After a tight start by the Claygate opening bowling attack of Nigel Abbott (2 for 16) and Matt Holmes (2 for 12) until the Mdantsane coach, former Sussex player Greg Hayes, came to the wicket, making 52 from a partnership of 70 to win the game for the township side by 5 wickets. 


 

Amongst those who enjoyed the celebrations after the game was South African pace bowler, Makaya Ntini, who was brought up in a local village. He publically thanked the Claygate side for visiting East London and for bringing an English side to play the township. 
 

Claygate then followed up with two victories in two games, one against another township side - the second against a rural team on a spectacular private ground near Bedford. 
 

In the first of these against Xesi (Middledrift), and despite scorching 35C temperatures, Claygate's batsmen put on a powerful performance scoring 229 for 6. Paul Burt and Russ Guyatt shared a century partnership before Burt retired on 58 and Guyatt  making the highest individual score of the tour- 67 . Tour new boy Dan Maskell weighed in with a powerful 50 and David Price 21 giving Claygate a substantial total to bowl against. 
 

In reply, Xesi finished 50 runs short with bowling honours going to Claygate's youngest player Kevin Harrington (3 for 36)  and Matt Holmes (2 for 10). 
 

For their third game in a week, the Dalmore Avenue side made their way north to play Bedford on the picturesque Mill Cricket Ground – bearing the famous initials MCG! Early Scottish settlers encouraged cricket in the area  and with oak trees round the boundary and drizzle after the game, it felt more akin to an away game in the Surrey Downs league! 

Batting first, the home side faced tight bowling from the Claygate openers Abbott and Watkins before taking advantage of some short pitched bowling.  Russ Guyatt and Dillon Woods reduced the flow, each bagging a wicket before Chris Howe (2 for 18) weighed in with two before the close. 

After an excellent opening partnership of 65 from Steve Salmon (28) and Chris Howe (49), Claygate's run chase slowed and with 8 overs to go, the total was looking out of reach. But a well struck 20 from Gareth Davies and a rapid 17 from Dillon Woods, enabled Chris Lewis and Skipper David Price to reach the total off the last ball of the game. 

 

February 22nd

 

 

 

Claygate CC return from their most successful international tour ever

 

Over £5k raised for cricket development in South Africa

 

                                                                                              

Claygate Cricket Club has returned from their 2008 tour of the Eastern Cape, South Africa, with their best ever return from any of their international tours – four victories from nine games played.

 

Claygate completed their tour with a day/night game against a Border representative side at the international ground at Buffalo Park, East London which they won by 5 wickets after a thrilling run chase at 10pm at night under floodlights.

 

Opting to bowl first in humid conditions, there were early wickets for Nigel Abbott and Joel Watkins, but a 100 run stand for the third wicket threatened to put Claygate out of the running. But a superb three wicket spell from David Price (3 for 8) and wickets for Dillon Woods, Henry Vincent and Luke Webb kept the Border side to 206 all out from 36 overs.

 

Rufus Legg and Chris Howe put on a fine 98 run opening partnership before Legg was trapped for 38 and Jamie Henderson joined Howe for a 50 run stand using the wide open spaces of the ground to excellent effect. Howe was finally out for 70, David Price added 15, before all rounders Chris Lewis and Joel Watkins and batsman of the tour Henderson (47 not out) finally saw the Dalmore Avenue side home for an excellent 5 wicket victory.

 

After the game, the club presented over £5000 of cricket equipment to Border Cricket Board to help cricket development is some of the deprived back township areas. Claygate had played against three black townships as part of their tour - AmaCal’egusha in King Williamstown, Mdantsane, the second largest in South Africa and Xesi at Middledrift. In all of these games Claygate were given the most extraordinary hospitality and welcome with South Africa fast bowler Makhaya Ntini being part of the celebrations at Mdantsdane.

 

The money will be used to help encourage more black players, particularly youngsters in the townships, to play the game. “To raise £5000 was a fantastic effort and represents a significant donation of cricket equipment” said Claygate’s club secretary. Rufus Legg “A big thank you to everyone in the area who has contributed”

 

The club partnered the Donald Woods Foundation, the charity set up to commemorate Donald Woods, who was a leading campaigner against the apartheid system in South Africa in the 1970’s. Woods’ friendship with Steve Biko, one of the most notable of the black consciousness leaders, led to him to writing the biography ‘Biko’ and ultimately to Richard Attenborough’s Oscar winning film ‘Cry Freedom’ in 1987, which told the story of the friendship between Biko and Woods.  Dillon Woods, a member of Claygate for the last 6 years, is one of Donald Woods’ sons and is now chief executive of the Foundation.

 

 

The Claygate touring party in front of a special message on the giant screen at Buffalo Park, East London. With them is part

                        of the equipment that they were able to donate for cricket development in the Border region.