Building better batters...

Bakers Mini Cricket recently hosted a delegation of 125 coaches and administrators from the 16 provincial affiliates of Cricket South Africa (CSA) in Stellenbosch at a conference with the theme: the heartbeat of South African cricket. Gerald Majola, CEO of Cricket South Africa, highlighted the importance of the program when he said it was essential in laying the foundation for cricket development in South Africa.

Niles Momberg, CSA Schools Cricket Manager, who also addressed the conference, estimated that over the past 24 years about two million children have passed through the program (http://www.bakersminicricket.co.za), which is South Africa's longest running developmental sports sponsorship to date.

Dr Ali Bacher came up with the concept after thinking about a way to introduce cricket to children at primary school level.

The version of cricket the program uses to teach cricketing skills is a scaled-down version of hard-ball cricket, and it can be played on any surface.  The game includes boys and girls from all walks of life, cultures and regions. Annually over 100 000 children and 5 000 schools participate in the program.

A number of well-known SA cricketers including Shaun Pollock, Makhaya Ntini, Mfuneko Ngam, Justin Ontong and Mark Boucher learned the basics thanks to Bakers Mini Cricket sponsorship.