“What I love about the Mini Cricket program is that it teaches kids life skills that they wouldn’t get anywhere else”, says Qhawekazi Mdikane, KFC SA Managing Director, written by Ongama Gcwabe.

KFC has been an integral part of the development and success of the mini cricket program for more than a decade now. They play an important role of inspiring young kids in the country to participate in the sport of cricket.

The likes of Lungi Ngidi, Andile Phehlukwayo and Kagiso Rabada have also went through this program and went on to be stars of South African Cricket.

“What we’re doing at the KFC Big Bucket, we’re bringing cricket fans closer to the game and to the Proteas,” said Qhawekazi Mdikane, KFC SA Managing Director

“At the KFC Big Bucket we’re giving cricket fans a VIP experience.”

The fans get to watch 10 overs of International T20 cricket alongside Proteas players, which I think is very important in ensuring that the young cricketers dream of being Proteas players themselves in the future.

It does not only inspire the next generation Proteas players, but also coaches and in my opinion, journalists as well. I mean, I was also in the mini cricket program a little over a decade ago but now I’m a passionate journalist and whenever I reflect it becomes clear to me that the program played a major role in terms giving me the introduction to the game and the knowledge I needed to create a way of life with the sport I love.

“The mini cricket program is the biggest grassroots program in the country. It exposes young kids to the game of cricket at a very young age,” Mdikane added.

“What I love about the program itself is that it teaches kids life skills that they wouldn’t get anywhere else. They learn about team work, they learn about the team environment at a very young age.

“What we’re doing even now for the T20’s is that we’re integrating the KFC Mini cricket kids into the KFC T20’s so that they get exposed to the game at this big scale, they get inspired and get to see their heroes playing out in the field,” concluded Mrs Mdikane

The third T20I will be at Newlands on Wednesay, 26th February 2020, and KFC will bring the Big Bucket experience to Cape Town for more Bucket loads of fun.