Welcome to Fasken Cricket Festival 2025

Clifton College was formed as a prep school in 1924. The College was founded in 2002. 

The school’s most famous old boy is South African batting icon, batsman Barry Richards. Robin Smith and Nick Compton played for England. 

Senuran Muthusamy became the school’s latest South African international player in 2019. Bradley Wheal is playing for Scotland and former SA U19 captain Matthew Montgomery is from Clifton.

At the end of 2024 Shiraz Perumal made the KZN Coastal U16 team, while Caleb Naicker and Muhammed Malek were in the KZN Coastal U15 side.

Shiraz, the team captain, is one player to look out for. Since breaking into the Clifton 1st XI as a Grade 9 in 2023, he has become a pivotal figure with his leg spin. This will be his third Fasken Festival.

Hayden Drieselmann, an attacking batsman, and Caleb Naicker – the KZN U15 Player of the Year in 2024 - are also worth watching. Caleb is a bowler.

Jeppe High School for Boys turned 134 years old in 2025. 

The 1931 Springbok Cricket team that toured England contained five Jeppe Old Boys, while Eric and Athol Rowan, GM Fullerton, and Neil Adcock were capped in the 1940s and 1950s. More recently, Alan Kourie, and Tabriz Shamsi played for South Africa. 

Jeppe plays in most major traditional cricket festivals, including the Michaelmas Week and the Noord-Suid tournament.

The first cricket team won the Johnny Waite Knockout Trophy for the 2nd time in 2023 - the first was back in 1989.

In 2024 Sipho Potsane made the Lions Khaya Majola Week team and Ryan Young and Munib Ayob the U17 team.

Players to watch out for include Ryan Young, the captain who is in his fourth Fasken Festival. Zizi Mkhize is a left-handed batsmen and spin bowler who is an exciting prospect. Lincoln Casais is a grade nine batsman who has scored 10 hundreds, including a double century, in his 18 months at Jeppe.

King Edward VII School is 119 years old. It is one of the Milner Schools, established as The Government High School for Boys, it was ultimately to become King Edward VII School. 

The school is one of the foremost nurseries of international cricketers and has produced 28 players, for different countries. Among the best-known are SA captains, Ali Bacher, Quentin De Kock, and Graeme Smith. As well as Ray Jennings and Neil McKenzie. The latest international player to come from the school is Tony de Zorzi.

Old boy Steele Grooteman represented the Netherlands at the 2025 U19 World Cup.

No fewer than 13 KES cricketers were selected for Central Gauteng Lions provincial age group sides at the end of last year

Troy Gordon is an explosive batter to look out for. He was selected for the SA Cricket U17 high performance camp this year. Connor Kuijers is a promising off spinner who can both attack and defend. 

The Central Gauteng Lions Invitation Team make their third appearance at the festival this year.

The team is made of boys from schools in Johannesburg that don't play as a school in the festival. The boys come together for the week to learn from the festival experience. 

The players come from the cricket-playing co-ed schools in the province, as well as from the Cricket South Africa’s Regional Development Hubs and High Performance Centres. Those structures cater for players at schools that do not offer the game.

A number of players who appeared for this team at the Fasken Festival have gone on to play for Central Gauteng Lions teams.

There are quite a few players in the ranks this year who show great potential.

Bafana Mtunzi   of Queens High school is at the festival for the second time. He is a talented all-rounder. Heinrich Minaar, from Helpmekaar-Kollege is a right-arm seamer, as is Kurt Losch – a right arm seamer from Steyn City School - who has taken a lot of wickets this year.

Hoërskool Nelspruit is located in Mbombela and was founded in 1916. The school has a proud academic record – the 2024 matric pass rate was 100%, with 289 distinctions – but it is also a sporting powerhouse. 

The 1st rugby team plays in the St John’s Easter Festival and won bit its matches there in 2025. Cricket is an important sporting code at the school. It hosts the annual Mozzie Week, a popular out-of-season festival in this part of the country. 

At the end of 2024 Nelspruit had four players in the Mpumalanga Rhinos under-19 side that played in the Khaya Majola. Three of them were in grade 11 last year, so they are still at school and will be playing in this Fasken Festival. There was also one Nelspruit player in the Mpumalanga U16 side that went it the national U16 week. 

Players to look out for at this year’s festival include: Duan Small, a left arm orthodox spin bowler; Vaughn van Zyl, the captain, who is a free-scoring batsman and Luan Siebrits, also a batsman. 

Hoërskool Noordheuwel was founded in 1981. The school is emerging from the shadow of its older neighbour, Monument, to become a sporting force on the West Rand. 

After the 2024 edition of the Fasken Festival, Noordheuwel went on to win the Lions final SA20, and then lost the regional final against St David’s in a bowl-out. In 2024 14 Noordheuwel players represented various CGL sides, including three in the Khaya Majola side and two representing the Central Gladiators CUBS side. 

This year Noordheuwel will again field a young and talented group of boys at this festival. The Grade 12s will be busy with their Prelim papers and are not available. 

Players to look out for include: JJ Basson and Corne Botha, both current SA u19 bowlers; Dian Taljaard, a top order right batsman; Gomo Sibi, a left arm orthodox spin bowler who has represented CGL for the last two seasons and JD Bezuidenhout, a talented all-rounder wo can bat anywhere and is very versatile with the ball in hand. 

St Andrew’s is a traditional all-boys school in Bloemfontein. The has produced 17 professional cricketers in the past 16 years, 12 of them in the past eight years. The most recent was Liam Doherty (Northern Cape Heat and Ireland U19) who played in the 2023 version of the Fasken Time Festival, as did the school`s most recent Protea, Gerald Coetzee - during the 2018 version. 

St Andrew`s continues to punch above its weight as a small boys-only school of just 384 boys. This year, they beat Grey College in the final of the XX20 Free State T20. 

Dakalo Leketa, who took 22 wickets at last year’s Fasken, went on to make the SA Schools team at Khaya Majola in Cape Town. FG Botha was the CSA U16 National Week Player of the tournament. Opening bowler, Cullen Kakora had a great run with the ball during January and February of this year. 

Naude Botha, FG Botha, Cullen Kakora are all players to watch out for at this festival. 

St Charles College is in Pietermaritzburg and is making its second appearance at the Fasken Festival this year. 

It is recognised by Cricket South Africa as a Blue Chip School in both the Senior and Primary School sections. These awards are based on an exceptional record of developing cricket excellence. 

In 2024 St Charles won the prestigious Eston T20 tournament for the third time.

Two players, Rowen Rajah and Kaiyuran Naidoo, made the KZN Inland Khaya Majola Week team last year. Rowen went on to play for the SA U19 Emerging XI and has made his First Class debut. Kaiyuran has been included in the SA u17 emerging squad. Connor Vogt, Thando Zama and Ryan Clarke all made the KZN Inland U16 team last December. 

All those players will be at the Fasken Festival again this year and are worth keeping an eye on. The captain, Rico Honnibal, is another prospect worth watching out for.

St David’s Marist Inanda has been located on its current site since 1941, which makes it 84 years old. 

Its most famous cricket alumnus is Temba Bavuma, the captain of the Proteas white ball and Test team. Dominic Hendricks has played for the SA U19 and SA Academy teams. 

St David’s enjoyed a good 2024/5 season. At a stage they school fielded 13 teams across the age groups - testament to depth and growth over the years. The school was honoured at the Lions Cricket Awards with a School of Excellence award.

St David’s were runners-up in the inaugural National SA20 Schools competition. 

At the end of 2024, four players were included in the Lions Khaya Majola Week team and three went to the National Cubs Week 

Jason Rowles, Armaan Manack, and Kamogelo Phiri made the national U19 team. Rowles and Morteza Manack, are ones to watch out for at this festival, but there are 11 players in a team and anyone is capable of a special and match winning performance. 

St John’s College was founded in 1898. It has produced a number of international cricketers including Clive Rice and Mike Rindel. Devon Conway is currently one of the stars of the New Zealand national team.

Recent Additions to the ranks of senior provincial cricket include: Connor Esterhuizen - SA A; Jack Lees - KZN Inland; JP King - Warriors; Keagan Lion-Cachet - Titans.

In 2025 the team reached the semi finals of the John Waite Competition, attended the Independent Boys school cricket festival; and recently returned from a cricket tour to Sri Lanka where they played eight games winning six and losing two.

In 2024 Cole Francis made the Central Gauteng Lions Khaya Majola Week team, and Joe MacRobert went to the week in the CSA Invitation team. Josh Hall and Herman Basson were in the Central Gauteng U15 Cup team; Nkosana Sibiya made Gauteng U16 team and the CSA Invitation team; Alec Loveland and Malan du Plessis were in the U17 team.

Individuals to watch at this festival are Loveland, the captain, a left arm orthodox bowler and top order batsman and Du Plessis, a medium quick bowler and explosive middle order batsman.

St Stithians College, located in Randburg, is 71 years old.

Earlier this year, the school had the distinction this year of having five old boys in the same Protea team – Kagiso Rabada, Wiaan Mulder, Ryan Rickelton and Kwena Maphaka. The school has produced several international cricketers. Among them Grant Elliot who represented New Zealand, Brandon Glover who played for Holland and Curtis Campher and Liam McCarthy who have played for Ireland. David Terbugge and Dave Rundle have also represented South Africa.

Old boys Esosa Aihevba and Richard Seletswane have DP World Lions contracts. While Muhammed Manack has played for the SA Emerging team and has a Dafabet Warriors Contract. Pranav Raichetti played for the SA Colts last year. Marques Ackerman captained the SA A team this year.

Players to look out for at this festival include Ombesa Matsha; a left-handed top order batsman and wicket keeper; Tahseen Hanslo, a top order batsman and offspin bowler; Zaakir Hanslo a left-arm orthodox spinner; and ⁠Thomas Collins a quality all rounder.

Hoërskool Waterkloof fields 14 cricket teams in regular fixtures and has a fearsome reputation in T20 cricket, in particular. It is the current holder of the National T20 title, having won it when the competition was last staged, in 2019. They also won it in 2011.

Rubin Hermann became the 5th old boy to play for South Africa when he was selected against Zimbabwe this year, he joins Hardus Viljoen and Pieter Malan have represented South Africa in Test matches, and Roelof Van der Merwe and Janneman Malan played white ball cricket for the country. 

Tristan Luus played for South Africa at the U19 World Cup.

Waterkloof won the Titans First team league again this year. Wian Ruthven and Marcus Bakker played for the Titans at the Khaya Majola Week last December.

Players to watch out for this year include: Riley Miller, a top order batsman who is an unbelievable striker of a cricket ball; and Darius Maritz a lanky opening bowler.