Cricket Profile – Champions and Courage – James Albanie
Michelle Lang | April 06, 2024
We start our Cricket Profiles of Champions with James Albanie, warm up coach for the Over 40s Cricket World Cup winning team, as well as SA Over 50s team player. This is James' story as is, unedited and in his own words...
"My story is the story of a rural boy growing up in the dusty streets of Touwsriver in an extended family with strong religious values. Sport in Touwsriver was one of the means to escape the hardship and boredom in this Little Karoo town. Many young kids and I were very privilege to have amazing teachers like Clyde Sass Moos Nicholas, Willem Hartnick and many others. They open the world of sport through books to us. We would play cricket but talk of the great West Indian teams who were our heroes. The MCC manual of cricket was dissected by us. Pages were crumbled the way we studied the game.
We played wherever there was space and had local tournaments. I remember Sydney Louw currently a teacher who loved batting so much that he designed himself a bat twice as wide as a normal bat. He was our first national schools’ player. My cricket journey took me through Boland Schools SA Schools to the SACB under 19. I was fortunate to attend UWC where I played for years in the eighties. I returned there in 2003 to do a Masters Degree, on believe it or not, a cricket bursary. But my journey prior to that took me to Riversdale where I played for Blues and made SWD side. I moved then to Worcester and receive a scholarship to study and play at US known as Maties under mentorship of Omar Henry. I played 4 University weeks and 4 club champs weeks where I tested my skill against all the great players Gary Kirsten, Tim Shaw and others. I represented SA universities and later SA students.
I made my provincial debut in 1994 against EP and play against my heroes Eldine Baptist and Captain Grumpy Kepler Wessels. After completing my business degree, I was lured back to UWC to play cricket again for them. I played in my six universities week. My greatest achievement was not the cricket but to able to complete another degree and registration as psychometrist.
That enabled me to analyse games performance and talent from a different angle. I completed my level 3 coaching certificate in the 90s and did some additional courses. So now you understand what cricket has enable me to do. But this does not go without reading researching and living your principles. That's why I love the HOWZATTT booklet. Knowledge is power. In between I am doing some empowerment work for women in sport.
So thank you all who afforded me these privileges. Thank you to the great mentors who introduce this game of cricket that teaches you humility, mathematics, geography, psychology and life”.
Pictures courtesy Ridiwaan Williams, Goolam Taliep,Veterans Cricket website.
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