Moorosi Tsiane
THE second edition of the National Cricket tournament roars into life this morning at the Maseru Race Course and Leribe airport ground in Hlotse.
Funded by the Indian Association in Lesotho (IAL), the tournament which until the last weekend of October is divided into two regions namely north and south.
According to the coordinator Sharose Mahadik, 11 teams had by Friday registered in the southern region while eight have confirmed participation in the northern region. He however said they were still expecting the number to rise.
“Most of the logistics are in order now and we are just waiting for Sunday (today) for the tournament to start,” Mahadik said.
“We have 11 teams which have registered from the southern region while we have eight from the north but we are still expecting the number to increase before Sunday (today).
“The teams in both regions will be playing in a knock out format and the winners from both regions will face off in a final scheduled for Lesotho High School in the last weekend of October.”
Mahadik said the tournament is meant to take the country’s youth off the streets by giving them something to keep them busy.
“We know what idle minds can do and this is the reason for which the IAL decided should work on this initiative to keep the youths busy and take them off the streets by introducing this tournament. We started last year and we intend to make the tournament an annual programme,” he said.
The winners will walk away with M5000 while the first and second runners-up will pocket M3000 and M1500 respectively. They will also get trophies.
Mahadik said to motivate the players to work hard, there will also be individual prizes for man of the match, best batsman and man of the series.
He further said they are impressed with the reception the sport is receiving in the country.
“Basotho have shown great interest in the sport and we now have several clubs from both Hlotse and Maseru dominated by Basotho and they are doing well which is impressive.
“Our target now is to ensure that the sport grows and attracts many people. We are also working with the Lesotho Cricket Association (LCA) to try and achieve our mission,” Mahadik said.
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