Assupol TuksCricket started their season with the USSA “A” Cricket Week that we hosted at the University of Pretoria during the first week of October. Assupol TuksCrikcet finished at the top of their pool after the group matches. They lost their first match against UCT but came back to win their matches against UJ and age old rivals Pukke. The semi-finals were rained out without a single ball being bowled and Assupol TuksCricket went through to the finals due to their first place on the logs. In the final, Assupol TuksCricket batted first and managed to score 256/7 in their allotted 50 overs. The Assupol TuksCricket bowlers and fielders impressed with the way they made it really difficult for the Madibaz batsmen to get going. Going into the last ten overs, they had to score at nearly eight runs an over which was always going to be a tall order. The SA USSA Team was also selected at this tournament. Assupol TuksCricket players, Craig Kirsten, Rubin Hermann, Ruben Trumpelmann and Jiveshen Pillay were all selected for this team. 

This year’s tournament was hosted by the University of Pretoria and Assupol TuksCricket for the first time since 2011 and was done very successfully. Hosting this tournament once again proved that winning a trophy doesn’t only happen on the field but that the off-field contribution from staff has a massive impact. After the immense amount of rain on semi-final day, it didn’t look like much cricket would be played on day 5, but thanks to all Assupol TuksCricket staff and ground-staff who worked tirelessly to prepare the field, the match started on time for a day that produced a wonderful final.

The second university tournament this season was for the most sought after trophy, Varsity Cricket. The tournament took place in Potchefstroom at the beginning of February saw an absolute cliff-hanger of a 2018 Varsity Cricket final where Assupol TuksCricket reclaimed the Varsity Cricket title with a 5 wicket victory with 2 balls to spare at Senwes Park. Assupol TuksCricket reached the finals after beating UJ in the semi-finals with 59 runs. Tuks got into that semi-final ending second on the log after the group stages where they won 5 matches with a bonus point against CUT, UJ, UWC, UCT and NMU, and losing their matches against Pukke and Maties. It was a well-deserved win after a lot of hard work was put in by players and coaches alike.

While taking part in University competitions, the Club still had to focus on the NCU Leagues and competitions to ensure that they retained their two titles. This year, the NCU Time Cricket Competition was taken away and teams competed in the NCU Premier League and the NCU Club T20 Competition.

After a long season, with a lot of cricket, Assupol TuksCricket won the NCU Premier League for the 8th year running. The Club has now qualified to represent the Northerns Cricket Union in the Momentum National Club Champs Qualifiers at the start of April where they will play against the Premier League winners from Mpumalanga, Easterns and Limpopo to secure a spot to represent the Titans in the Momentum National Club Champs at the end of April.

This season’s victory was an incredible Club effort with 33 different players playing for Assupol Tuks 1 and 41 different players playing for Assupol Tuks 2 during the course of the season.

For the 6th year running, Assupol TuksCricket won the NCU T20 Competition after beating PHSOB in the Final at the Assupol Tuks Oval.
 
Apart from the success in all the competitions, we also want to ensure that we produce more than just cricket players; we also want to ensure that we positively grow our students and staff. The synergy within the Club is something that everybody feeds off and it inspires us all to help each other reach our personal and collective goals. The coaches within the setup are more than just knowledgeable and committed cricket people, they strive to make players better and help them to reach their full potential.

In the Premier League, Ruan de Swardt was the leading wicket taker for Tuks taking 26 wickets and Ivan Kriek was the leading run scorer, scoring 655 runs.

During the season, Assupol TuksCricket once again produced a record number of cricketers that went on to the next level of representative cricket. It was special moments for all during the past season when three Alumni players and students made their debuts for the Proteas; Aiden Markram, Heinrich Klaasen and Lungi Ngidi. They’ve all been testament that hard work pays off. During the season, we had the following amount of players chosen for the respective teams:

6x Men National
2x Women National
3x SA u19
1x SA u19 Coach
3x National Academy
4x SA USSA Team
1x SA USSA Coach
1x SA USSA Manager
6x Titans Franchise Academy
3x SA Franchise Academy
2x SA Schools
3x SA Colts
3x Titans Cubs
8x Africa Cup
1x Africa Cup Consultant Coach
5x Unlimited Titans
10x Northerns Senior Provincial
1x Easterns Senior Provincial

It is very important for us at Assupol TuksCricket to continue to set the benchmark with our training methods, work ethic and the development of our players but it is also important to enjoy the success within all our competitions. We’ve had some tough challenges with the turnover of players during some of the competitions throughout the season. In the end we are very proud of all our players and staff members who sacrificed a huge amount of time and hard work to have a successful year. We have a very professional and committed administrative department, who makes the club function at optimal level and ensures that we can wholly focus on cricket and the betterment of the players and teams. They say that trophies are not only won on the field but in the offices as well and I would like to thank all our staff at Assupol TuksCricket for their continual hard work and commitment. It’s a humbling experience to be able to look back at this memorable season and it is something we will never take for granted. At the end of the day, we value our club and University and it’s an honour to represent this institution with its rich and proud history.