Young cricketers’ dreams die after teacher’s project collapses

Over almost two decades, disadvantaged children in Mpumalanga’s Bushbuckridge area were excitedly playing cricket thanks to the efforts of one school teacher.

But, two years ago, the project came to a grinding halt.

Vincent Mokoena’s project died in 2018 after the Mpumalanga Cricket Union, which allegedly gave too little support to developing the sport in the area, cut off its scant patronage.

Mokoena (50) from Tekamahala village, 30km from Bushbuckridge, had juggled his full-time teaching job at Tamajane Secondary School with organising and coaching grassroots cricket at 240 schools since 1999.

Over the years,