Ravi “The Heavy Roller” Reddy takes you behind the scenes of his incredible experience with the Jozi Stars at Katzy’s in Rosebank.
The perks of being married and having a 2-year-old daughter are that it affords one many pleasures in life.
These include weekend kiddies parties, regular baby showers, engagement parties and a lifetime membership at our local Pick n’ Pay.
Unfortunately, the days of partying till the early hours of the morning were well beyond me…. Or so I thought.
A rare opportunity to meet the Jozi stars presented itself with Katzy’s in Rosebank (an institution in its own right). I haven’t paid a cover charge in years, but in spite of the price, it was certainly a worthwhile experience to rub shoulders among some of the world’s most talented cricketers.
Upon arriving at the fine Rosebank establishment, we were greeted with live entertainment and dancing. In the background were a number of notable stalwarts from the Jozi Stars, namely Ryan Rickelton, Dan Christian, Sinethemba Qeshile and Dane Paterson.
The Katzy’s management were friendly and approachable and escorted me to the players. Fortunately, there was one player that recognized me from a previous encounter and that was Reeza Hendricks.
The 30-year-old opener had a season of many good starts and misfortunes, however, was certainly open to a few questions:
You’ve been branded a white-ball specialist, would you consider this the case or would you be open for a shot in the red-ball format? – “I’ve always aspired to play Test cricket one day and would love the opportunity should it present itself.”
Are you type-casted as an opener, have you considered batting lower down the order? – “Absolutely, I am open to going lower in the order however this is dependent on the team management’s plans at the Stars (and the Proteas)”
What’s your favourite football team? – Man Utd all the way. (We spoke about United for over 20 minutes here, the details are sketchy but we agreed that it’s #OleOut)
So Jofra carries his X-box One and plays “Fortnite” when he’s on tour, does the Jozi stars have a LAN party or two? – There are a few PS4s among the lads (Jozi Stars)
Zubayr Hamza is in sublime form – do you think he will be featured in the first Test? – That depends on the selectors, to be honest, but he’s certainly done well for himself. He’s a fantastic player and deserves more opportunities.
After a while, Reeza retreated to the core group and I continued to mingle.
I found a jovial group at the back of the establishment comprising of Sintehmba Qeshile and Clifford, one of the Jozi Stars media specialists.
Qeshile is a highly introverted young man, full of ambition and promise. After putting down his Coke “No sugar” he indicated his desire to play for the Proteas in the Test format one day.
Qeshile recently quit drinking as well, indicating that it’s paid plenty of dividends towards his cricket (wicket-keeping particularly).
We once again spoke about football paying particular attention to the many failures of Manchester United’s 2019/20 season.
Coupled with this was Arsenal’s dismal performance resulting in the sacking of Unai Emery. Emery, funnily enough, bears a striking resemblance to the Jozi Stars CEO, Jon Leaf-Wright.
Jon is equally jovial and welcoming and provided complimentary tickets to the December 1st Mzansi Super League fixture against the Paarl Rocks outfit.
The night concluded with a bowler whose name rhymes with “Farmer” providing Jagermeister shots to all the guests, including myself.
With reluctance (and reading my own last rights) I accepted his offer and consumed my drink. I was dubbed an honorary member of the team be it for a few hours.
This was a highly enjoyable evening and I am certain that this will not be my last encounter with the Jozi Stars.
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Peace, Love and Cricket
