IN THE NEWS

Pineleaves Cricket Club was established in the 1960’s in Pineview and provided the foundations for cricket in the Grabouw area. The club, whose base was in Caledon, competed in the Southern Union. Cricket was played in Bredasdorp, Swellendam, Hermanus, Caledon and even in Genadendal. In 1975, under the captaincy of Hennie Hendricks, Pineleaves was the first non-white team to play against one of the town’s white teams.

Cricket later came to a halt due to a sport boycott and the affiliation of rugby clubs to the former SARU and Federation, as many of the cricket players joined SARU. The rugby clubs in Pineview also played rugby there.

Between 1976 and 1983 no official cricket matches were played in the region, until a rural school, Groenberg Secondary School, started the ball rolling again when they established “Groenberg Krieketclub” and played in the Stellenbosch and Districts Union.  J.P. Duminy can be heartily thanked for this. Kevin Johnson, Ivan Jacobs, Virgil Hendricks, Tony Walbrugh, Hennie van Niekerk, Ralph Morris and other outstanding players and members of the old Pineleaves club played for this club. In time they also played cricket in Strand’s Town League. Names associated with these games were Steve Meyer, Hilton Duminy, Mark Adams, Jeremy Adams, Gary Boshoff, Calvin Smith, Bertram Cupido, Charles Williams, Petrus Hesselman, Phillip “Fly” Jacobs, Leon Kiewiets, and Cedric Hendricks. During this time, cricket was still played on a mat and players didn’t wear helmets and other protective gear.

Grabouw Cricket Club was established when Pineleaves merged with Silvertrees and Safcol. Cricket is still being played in the Boland Cricket Union today and stars often emerge from this. The club believes that cricket can become stronger with better facilities, discipline, and a greater willingness to perform.

Monday and Wednesday from 17h00 till 19h00 at Groenberg Secondary school in Grabouw