In his youth, during Apartheid, Hussein Manack represented Easterns and Gauteng but could never aspire to dreams much further than that as he would never be allowed to represent South Africa because of the colour of his skin.

This has inspired Manack to provide an avenue for local cricketers of all backgrounds to aspire to the summits of cricket.

“I’m the head coach at Marks Park cricket club, which is one of the biggest clubs in Gauteng, in the Gauteng Premier League. It’s a very non-racial club, it comes from a previously disadvantaged background we’ve got a big variety [of players]. We are a very inclusive club. Very mixed, very inclusive, very non-racial,” he says.

Cricket is everyone’s game

Club cricket is probably one of the least glamorous local sports. A crowd of 50 people is rare to see, even at a first-team club cricket match. However, Manack, the former Proteas national team selector and current head coach of Marks Park cricket club, believes that every young cricketer, that aspires for higher honours, should cut their teeth at club level.

The nature of club cricket is that players often umpire their own matches, opposed to schoolboy cricket and domestic cricket where there are third parties or coaches umpiring.

Manack believes that because of this “club cricket toughens cricketers up” and is a vital cog in preparing cricketers for the challenges of climbing up the provincial ladder. “Club cricket plays a huge role in developing cricketers, particularly for the highest level,” he says.

The importance of club cricket cannot be understated. It is possibly the only place where a former international cricket player and a 15-year-old high school student can bump shoulders.

“At club level, youngsters could be playing against 25, 35, 45-year-old ex-provincial or maybe even former international players. That type of experience is invaluable,” says Manack.”

This is a snippet of the article found in Issue 14 of Cricket Fanatics Magazine. For the full article subscribe below.