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The 2024 Pineapple Cricket tournament promises to be a showstopper of an event from the time the first ball is bowled next month on the occasion of its 120th anniversary.
The iconic tournament which hits off from March 2 to 9 2024 across venues in the district will have 24 teams competing for various trophies in their respective sections. One of this year’s highlights is Hong Kong invitational outfit, KaiTak CC, who will participate in the tournament.
KaiTak are captained by Michael Gunton and the team consists mostly of SA ex-patriates now resident in Hong Kong.
Cuylerville 1sts who are defending the trophy this year will be buoyed by their recent success in winning the T20 final against Salem last Sunday at Shaw Park. There will be six teams in the A section, 10 in the B section and eight invitational teams including KaiTak, Gypsies from East London and The Owls. Monday is set aside for “oldies” day with the now familiar East v West Legends fixture.
The oldest running cricket tournament in SA, now reaches another milestone – its 120th edition – following centenary celebrations in 2004. The tournament is steeped in history with the first matches played in 1904 among four teams.
Pineapple farmers from the earliest days of the spectacle downed tools to enjoy a week playing cricket, with social gatherings on the periphery.
Former Pineapple Cricket president, cricket luminary and MCC member, Ross Purdon, says it is a proud occasion for cricket in the region.
“It’s an amazing achievement … thinking that we’ve only had three interruptions through all these years is testimony to the administrators, the players and the clubs who own the tournament. And, in fact Pineapple Cricket is a nickname, the original title is actually Port Alfred and Bathurst District Tournament otherwise affectionately known as the ‘Pineapple Tournament’”.
The cricket legacy of the former Albany District can be traced back to the 1820 settlers, who entrenched the game’s footprint in the area.
In 1932, the trophy was procured in England for £50 and 24 teams still compete for coveted silverware today across three divisions. Except for the tournament’s hiatus from 1940-1945 during World War 2, and in 2021 during the Covid lockdown, it has had an otherwise uninterrupted run of 119 years.
The victory by Nemato township team, Rainbows to win the 2nd team Pineapple trophy in 2004 was a “momentous occasion”.
One of the Rainbow players that year was Mzameli Dikeni who recalls the victory with fondness.
“We were only formed in 1995 but we were a group of talented cricketers. I remember some of us not having shoes for our first game but with the help of “Oom Foxy” [groundsman] and Ross Purdon who helped us out, we went on to actually win the tournament. That team has a WhatsApp group and some of us meet at least twice a year.
“That night of the trophy prize-gving ceremony we all got on to a bakkie and circled the field … just thinking back now gives me goosebumps,” said Dikeni.
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