The 2026 CSA Cubs Week has just been completed at the Maties Cricket complex in Stellenbosch. Every January, Cubs Week brings together the best u19 men cricketers from around the country, drawn from six regions. These six regions cover all 15 affiliated unions in the country, and the squads are organised as follows (in order of their finishing positions):
Northern Champions: Titans, Easterns and Limpopo
Coastal Conquerors: KZN Inland (Tuskers) and KZN Coastal (Dolphins)
Central Gladiators: Lions and Mpumalanga
Southern Superstars: Western Province, Boland and South Western Districts
Eastern Warriors: Eastern Province and Border
Western Legends: Free State, North West and Northern Cape
These squads are selected after the annual Khaya Majola Cricket Week, a competition where all unions are represented. The age range of the participants at Cubs Week can include young men who turn 19 in the calendar year and, as such, the six regional teams can contain players who may have finished Grade 12 last year, as well as players who may have left school the year before.
Even though the cream of the crop of the SA u19s was playing against India u19 at the same time, there was a significant amount of exciting talent on show. This should be no surprise, as many of these youngsters have already been identified as part of CSA’s Talent Acceleration Programme (TAP). Every region has a TAP lead, and these experienced men play a huge role not only in identifying talent, but also in assisting youngsters as they make their way through their early cricketing careers. These TAP leads are the unsung heroes of Cubs Week.
There may be names that you recognise among Graham October (Southern Superstars), Pieter Cronje (Northern Champions), Brady Barends (Western Legends), Burton de Wet (Eastern Warriors), Sam Mofokeng (Coastal Conquerors) and Bongani Mtini (Central Gladiators). The structures at CSA behind the leads report to Head of Domestic Cricket Edward Khoza, who was a constant presence throughout the week. Outgoing u19 convenor of selectors Patrick Moroney and Head of Youth Cricket at CSA David Mokopanele also kept a beady eye on their young charges. Tournament director Morgan Pillay, with the assistance of Boland Cricket and Maties Cricket, put together an outstanding week.
All those mentioned above are there to support the main thing – the young men who were there to showcase their ability with bat, ball and in the field. In a post-tournament interview with Eugene Moleon, recently appointed Proteas convenor of selectors Moroney made it clear just how important Cubs Week is for players’ futures. “They (the cricketers) know what it can do for your career,” he said. “There are a lot of eyeballs on them – varsities and provinces are looking at what is going to be best for them (in terms of recruitment).”
Supporting the talent through the TAP is critical, and the role that technology plays in this is becoming even more important, according to Moroney. “The modern game has changed the collection of data. PitchVision (in conjunction with CSA) plays a major role. It is not just statistical, but visual facts (that are available),” he commented. “Now the TAP leads are in a privileged position to be able to use that.”
Moroney went on to link the work done at this level to his new role and intimated that he would be keeping a keen eye on the TAP. “Players at Protea level don’t just arrive at the Proteas without going through a process,” he concluded. “It’s important to follow the processes and the growth of players.” The growth during a week such as this is evident in the performances of the players.
The week was undoubtedly successful, but there were a number of features that the TAP leads lamented. The top orders of all teams struggled to make runs, and it was commonplace to see middle- to lower-order batters rescuing, or even taking, their teams to victory. Mine, and my fellow commentators’, player of the tournament, Xander Venter (Garsfontein HS & Northern Champions), was involved in two outstanding lower-order partnerships with Mohammed Rasool (Cornwall Hill College), both of which took their team to victory. Venter starred with the ball too, finishing as the top wicket-taker with 12 wickets at 9.75, and an economy rate of 3.4. His contribution to the perfect five out of five for the Northern Champions cannot be underestimated.
Adapting to the moving ball in the opening overs was a challenge, with too few leaves and too many poor shot options. Patience at the crease, and the art of playing with a straight bat in these conditions, was perhaps best displayed by the leading top-order batter at the tournament, Ben Hockly (Hilton College & Coastal Conquerors). Three fifties in five innings produced 214 runs, second only to team-mate Joshua van Biljon’s (Durban HS) total of 219. On the bowling front, seamers such as Venter, D Rowen Rajah (St Charles & Coastal Conquerors) (four matches, 10 wickets at 13.6) and Kyle Butler (St David’s Marist & Central Gladiators) (five matches, 10 wickets at 11.1) produced excellent lines and lengths to reap the rewards.
Thirty innings were played during the tournament, and only four of these produced totals over 250. Two of these came in the same match, where the Southern Superstars chased down 263 against the Central Gladiators. They had slumped to 161/7 before an unbroken 104-run stand in 13.3 overs between Michail Tarentaal (Wynberg Boys’ High) and Unathi Magoloza (Khayelitsha Hub) sealed the win.
This type of victory highlighted one of the other features of the week – the standard of game management. The ability to close off an innings when teams were six or seven wickets down often proved difficult. Fields were perhaps initially too defensive in these situations, and the option to bring back strike bowlers was not always employed. This, together with the determination of lower-order batters (some of whom bat much higher for their schools) to take the innings as deep as possible, led to significant contributions from batters at seven and below.
Vihan Pretorius (Affies), the captain of the week’s champion team, the Northern Champions, showed excellent tactical awareness in his role. This made a significant contribution to his team’s perfect record. His shining moment was undoubtedly the demolition of the Southern Superstars for just 72 in the final match on Coetzenburg Oval. His opening bowlers, Kamogelo Matlala (Elandspark HS) (3/13) and Venter (2/18), reduced the Superstars to 21/5, from which they could not recover.
The spirit and purpose of Cubs Week is about competing, yes, but it is also about the opportunity received by those selected to participate in this prestigious tournament. The principle of “quality of opportunity” is crucial to the success of Cubs Week. The tournament is about identifying and promoting talent, and this cannot be done without opportunity.
Players who have benefitted from this include Riley Miller (Waterkloof HS & Northern Champions), who was not in the Titans Khaya Majola Week team but did play there with the SA Invitation XI, where he made his mark, was selected for the SA Colts team, and subsequently the Northern Champions. Under-16 players Moeketsi Beya (Duduza Hub & Northern Champions), Zizi Mkhize (Jeppe HS & Central Gladiators) and Corbin Tidbury (Graeme College & Eastern Warriors) were others who seized their opportunity at this year’s Cubs Week.
A number of top tournament performances have already been mentioned, and there were others who put their names in lights during the week. While there were no hundreds, the Conquerors’ van Biljon shone with the highest score of the tournament – 95 against the Western Legends. Miller’s 86 off 58 balls against the Eastern Warriors was undoubtedly the most belligerent innings of substance, taking his team to the target of 175/5 in just 24.1 overs. Olefa Padi (Potchefstroom Volkskool & Western Legends) produced outstanding bowling figures of 6/36 against the Eastern Warriors, while Sulaymaan Gangat (Pearson HS & Eastern Warriors) tweaked his way to 5/35 against the Southern Superstars. These young heroes of Cubs Week 2026 epitomise the spirit of the week, and how opportunity can be seized.
I’ll leave the last word of the week to Pieter Cronje, TAP lead for the Champions. The tournament winners were already assured of the title by the end of the fourth day. In theory, the final match against the Superstars was a “dead rubber”. Pieter told us he was having breakfast with Graham October on the morning of the final day when someone walked past and said, “Nothing on this game…” to which he replied, “No, you’ve got it wrong!”
It is a reminder that friendships forged in the fire of competition, and the memories made on Maties’ fields, may last a lifetime. It is on this very foundation that the future of South African cricket depends.
