The Umzinto & Districts Cricket Union was established in August 1996 and is registered as a Public Benefit Organization. We are also an affiliate of the KwaZulu Natal Cricket Union. An elected committee of volunteers administer the affairs of the Union. Since inception we have produced many youth and women provincial players. In season 2009/10 we produced our first South African player in the SA Women's Team.

We concentrate mainly on the development of the game in Umzinto and its surrounding areas. Over the years we have made inroads in the following areas: Umkomaas, Dududu, Scottburgh, Park Rynie, Preston, Pennington, Sezela, Malangeni, Esperanza, Braemar, Mtwalume, Highflats and Umzinto. With the limited resources available to the union, our dedicated band of administrators and coaches have not failed the youngsters or us.

UMZINTO CRICKETERS EXCEL AT KZN U/17 RURAL TRIALS

L-R BACK: Joash Murugas, Ziyaad Khan, Sheldon Govender (v/c), Iftikhaar Khan, Preain Shanmugam, Alex Naidoo (w/k), Andre Pretorius (coach).
L-R FRONT:Shiraz Ismail, Jadin Nobin, Kallan Sivpersad, Miteshan Govender, Sashan Ramdeen (c), Naeem Patel.

On September 25th our cricketers participated in the KZN High Schools U/17 Rural Trials held at Kearsney College. The selected squad played 2 matches and proved to be the stronger of the 4 districts participating.

While Stanger took on Zululand, Umzinto played against Southern Natal in a T20 match.
Umzinto fielded first and restricted their opponents to 98 runs. All the bowlers did well while left arm up & coming bowler Jadin Nobin conceded only 8 runs in his 4 overs.

Umzinto then went in to bat & debutant Alex Naidoo made a patient 48 runs. Good contributions from Sheldon Govender & Preain Shanmugam helped surpass the runs with 3 overs to spare.

As winners, Umzinto took on the winners of the other match – Zululand - in the afternoon fixture. This time Umzinto batted first & Naeem Patel anchored the innings from the start. Once again Sheldon Govender & Preain Shanmugam came out blazing with Preain top scoring with 35 runs. Captain Sashan Ramdeen made an impact with 3 quick boundaries with the team ending on 118.

Umzinto then managed to bowl out the opponents for 109. Once again all the bowlers were economical with Sashan & Miteshan cleverly using the slower deliveries to counter the hard hitting batsmen. Good fielding also helped win the match.

It was an excellent performance all round and showcased our district as a force to be reckoned with in rural cricket as it is the third year running that we remain unbeaten at the trials! Submitted by Andre Pretorius

Scoring Workshop hosted by Park Rynie Cricket Club

Clinton Moodley of the Park Rynie Cricket Club hosted a Scoring Workshop this weekend, the 17 September 2011 at St. Francis Primary School. The Clubs main objectives of this target Workshop was to educate all young cricketer s the fundamentals of cricket scoring. All cricketers who attend this workshop expressed their surprise and amazement to the complexities of scoring. There were Senior Cricketer s who were also present and they to admitted to learning something new. The course was well attended and will continue next week. The Club as also indicated its interest to host an Umpires workshop in a few weeks time.

This week also saw the Umzinto and District's KFC Mini-Cricket Coordinators, Colin Govender from Park Rynie and Mlondi Ndlovu from Amandawe attend a Provincial Mini-Cricket Seminar held at Kingsmead.

The Club will like to express their thanks and appreciation to the St. Francis Primary School Governing Body, Dolly Gounden and her executive committee for assisting us with the use of a classroom. Submitted by Clinton Moodley

Park Rynie Cricket Club Awards Ceremony

Park Rynie Cricket Club was crowned the 2010/2011 Challenge League Champions in the Umzinto & Districts Cricket League. In order to celebrate this momentous occasion, the Club decided to host a Cricket Awards Ceremony. The ceremony took place on the 26th August 2011 at the Scottburgh Town Hall. The guests numbered over three hundred and they thoroughly enjoyed their evening.

Many Dignitaries and Guests graced the Awards Ceremony, among them were, His Worship the Mayor of Umdoni Municipality Counsellor Siyabonga Khwela, UDCU Executive Member - Mr. Ravi Padaychee, SGB Chairperson St Francis Primary School Mrs. Dolly Gounden and Members of the Park Rynie Civic Association.

The function proved to be a huge success. All members of the Park Rynie Cricket Club, the KFC Mini-Cricket Team, The Junior Development Team, Senior Team and Past Players all received accolades.

Special Awards were give to Prospect the Season Kallan Sivpersad , Wicketkeeper- Ryan Naidoo, Bowler Of the Season - Jadin Nobin (Special Spinners Award - Ancel Govender), Fielder Of the Season - Thavashen Naidoo, Batsman Of The Season - Clinton Moodley, Players Player of The Season - Sara Ashley Govender, Player Of The Season - Prineshen Pillay(Boya) and Most Dedicated Players- Gavin Reddy and Rubeshen Chetty.

Special Awards were also given to the members of the cricket fraternity who have dedicated many years coaching and administrating the game of cricket in our community. The recipients of these awards were, Strini Maistry, Ravi Padaychee, Savy Padaychee, Asif Essop, Clinton Moodley, Shane Pillay, Prineshen Pillay and Old Boys Cricket Club.

The guests were entertained by beautiful eastern dancers Shivani Maharaj and Simran Ramdin thereafter they were provide to a scrumptious meals.

Park Rynie Cricket Club would like to thank all it sponsors, Mr. Yegi Gounden and Mr.Dolly Gounden, The Govindsamy Family of Umzinto, Anushka Maharaj, Mrs. Yogi Moodley, Logie PIllay, Nikesh Maharaj, Rajen(Checkers Scottburgh), Sandra Moodley, Sharon Pillay, Irene Pillay, The Park Rynie Civic Association, Maga & Asha Moodley, Ranga and Sagrie Moodley, Mr. Jimmy Moodley and Family, Mr.Keri Singh, Ravin Govender, Vincent Pandaram, Strini Maistry and all parents and supporters who helped make the Awards ceremony a success , hoping for their continued support in the coming seasons. Submitted by Clinton Moodley

UMZINTO & DISTRICTS HIGH SCHOOLS CRICKET WRAP

UDCU High Schools has initiated cricket games for all its teams against Port Shepstone High School this term.

This was done in order to expose our players to external teams, to evaluate their strength within the region & to build relationships with other districts.

In the first match, Scottburgh High were comprehensive victors over “Sheppy” with valuable contributions from many players including an unbeaten 52 from Aubrey Sosibo.

In the second match, the Combined Schools team, the majority of whose players come from Umzinto Secondary, decided to bat first. Openers Prineshan Pillay & Gavin Reddy were aggressive from the start putting on a 101 run partnership before Gavin was dismissed. His 36 runs included 3 fours & 2 sixes.

Preain Shanmugam then joined Prineshan at the crease, playing a secondary role & cleverly rotating the strike.

Prineshan was soon rewarded with a brilliant century which included 9 fours & 5 sixes in an innings that was patient & almost flawless. Coach Andre Pretorius had been waiting many years for such an innings in the schools setup.

When Prineshan was retired on 100 runs, Preain took the senior role & became more confident in his stroke making. The left hander ended on 55 not out, hitting 2 fours & 3 sixes. Ably supported by Sashan Ramdeens’ 26 runs, the team amassed a total of 245 for 4 after their 30 overs.

The bowlers then proceeded to rip apart the defences of the Port Shepstone batsmen. Young left handed Jadin Nobin took 3 wickets for 1 run in his 2 overs, while Preains offspin netted him 2 wickets for 2 runs in his 2 overs. Port Shepstone only lasted 13 overs before they were trundled out for a mere 40 runs.

In the third match, Sheppy bounced back to beat Umzinto Islamic School. The last match will see them take on Umkomaas Secondary who have improved vastly under their inspirational captain Vishay Singh. Submitted by Andre Pretorius

Park Rynie Cricket Club Vs Old Boy Cricket Club

Park Rynie Cricket Club took on Old Boys Cricket Club on a scorching Sunday morning the 6th of February 2011 at the ICC ground in Umzinto.

Park Rynie was going into this match with a weakened side as four of their players were representing the Umzinto & Districts Cricket Union in Durban.

Captain Shane Pillay won the toss for Park Rynie and elected to field. Clinton Moodley and Prineshen Pillay opened the bowling for Park Rynie. The ball swung appreciably making batting difficult for Old Boys openers Deena and Andrew. Wickets fell quickly, Deena was caught of the bowling of Prineshen and Andrew was bowled by a superb away swinger by Clinton. Old boys were struggling at 44 runs for 6wickets in the 13th over.

Park Rynie knew that they were at least two bowlers short & had to rely on backup bowlers. This proved a disaster as they were punished to all parts of the ground by inform Old Boys batsmen Shivesh who played brilliantly for his 56 runs. A young a talented Old Boys Batsman Alister played well under pressure and scored 11 runs. Old Boys CC were eventually bowled out on a respectable 120 runs in their 30 overs.

The Park Rynie bowling figures ; Clinton Moodley 6overs – 22 runs – 3wickets, Prineshen Pillay 5 overs – 9 runs- 2 wickets, Shane Pillay 6overs- 22-0, and Luwayne Diaz a young and talented bowler 5 overs – 9 runs – 2 wickets. Well done Luwayne keep it up. Park Rynie cc fielded well, Thavashan Naidoo , Prineshen and Prineshen Reddy all took good catches.

Park Rynie`s opening pair Prineshen Pillay and Clinton Moodley knew that at 4 runs a over victory was certain and made light work of some ordinary bowling. Prineshen and Clinton reached 44 runs in the 11th over before Prineshen was caught and bowled by Andrew whilst trying to sweep at a ball from outside his off stump. Thavashan joined Clinton and they also put on a little partnership. Clinton was the next to go, he made 33 runs before being trapped LBW by the off spin of Andrew.

Captain Shane Pillay then joined Thavashan Naidoo (31 * runs), Shane and Thavashan played some delightful shots and took Park Rynie to victory.

Chris Fourie sponsored and presented the man of the match award to Thavashan Naidoo for his brilliant catch and a well played 31*. Well done Park Rynie Cricket Club keep it up. Submitted by Clinton Moodley

UMZINTO PLAYERS MAKE THEIR MARK AT KZN HIGH SCHOOL TRIALS

L-R: Vishay Singh, Ameen Ismail, Aubrey Sosibo, Prineshan Pillay

The KZN High Schools cricket trials were held in Durban from 30 Sept to 2 Oct.

The following Umzinto & Districts players were invited to partake in the main trials:
Sheldon Govender : U/15.
Wesley Poole, Prineshan Pillay, Ameen Ismail, Aubrey Sosibo & Vishay Singh : U/19 \ U17.

These players were put into different teams along with players from top cricketing schools such as DHS, Kearsney, Glenwood etc. Each player performed well & was given the platform to display their talents.

At the same time, Umzinto entered a team into the KZN Rural U/17 trials. They played Illembe in the first match & easily beat them. Paroshan Gramoney, Gavin Reddy & Naeem Patel batted well while young Jaden Nobin & Miteshan Govender excelled with the ball.

The second match was against Zululand & was an exciting affair which Umzinto won by 5 runs in the last over. Preain Shanmugam, Shiraaz Ismail & Ebrahim Essop contributed with the bat while it was Sashan Ramdeen & Jadin that cleaned up the tail.

At the end of the trials, the following boys were selected into KZN representative teams:
KZN Rural U/17 : Vishay Singh, Prineshan Pillay, Aubrey Sosibo & Ameen Ismail.

Congratulations are extended to all those who participated and to those few selected, well done & make KZN proud at the National Championships in Kimberley in December. Andre Pretorius