Maxtalent youngsters to play in South Africa

UAE cricket academy Maxtalent is to stage an under-17s tournament in South Africa. Academy head coach Sudhakar Shetty told Gulf News the aim was to give the boys experience of travelling to play cricket. "We will take a strong contingent of 20 players consisting of boys under-13 and under-17 to South Africa from July 3 to 13," he said. "We will stage the Maxtalent Global Challenge Cup for boys under-17 at Benoni ground located near Johannesburg."This tournament will be contested by two South African club teams and one academy team. "This is being organised to give our players a feel of foreign conditions and also enjoy the thrill of playing in a tournament abroad." Shetty wants his cricketers to adapt to the 50-over format. The majority of the events played in the UAE are Twenty20. "The tournament will be 50 over matches as we do not want to be travelling all the way to South Africa just to play 20 over matches," he said. "For the Under-13 boys matches we have planned 25-over matches against South Africa's local clubs. "In 2007 we staged a tournament in Bengaluru involving local teams there and for the last four years we have been staging a tournament in Mumbai. "We opted for South Africa this time because we believe that it could be a dream exposure for the young cricketers here."