Willows cricket captain and Eastern Province Grahamstown all rounder Melville Daniels has been selected as part of the South African rural cricket team at the South African National Rural tournament in Kimberley, after representing the EP Grahamstown side at the national rural cricket week.
Willows cricket captain and Eastern Province Grahamstown all rounder Melville Daniels has been selected as part of the South African rural cricket team at the South African National Rural tournament in Kimberley, after representing the EP Grahamstown side at the national rural cricket week.
Daniels, who is the only Eastern province player to make the SA side, was EP’s best bowler at the tournament taking ten wickets in four games and he finished among the top wicket takers in the tournament.
The EP side won three out of four games, while the Pro 20 games on the last day were rained out. The SA side played their first match against the South African defence and police forces last week.
Although the rural side lost the match, Daniels went on to take two of his team’s wickets. The SA side is scheduled to go on tour later this year and will play a number of provincial teams.
Daniels’ cricket career started at a young age, playing for Grahamstown Primary before going on to captain the Mary Waters first team and also the Grahamstown Development side while at school.
Although he did not expect to make the SA side, Daniels said he had changed his training leading up to the cricket week, adding that he added more gym sessions to his training programme.
He has played for the Willows Cricket Club since the age of 15 and also represented the EP Country U18 team in 1995. He went on to represent the EP Country Districts (now the rural side) at the age of 17 and became a regular member.
After school, Daniels formed part of the Border Academy and played for the Premier league side United, where his pace was recognised and he was selected for the Border Bears side. His best bowling performance in a match is taking eight wickets.
Last year, Daniels scored his highest total in his cricket career for Willows making 126 against Rhodes Rhodents.
In 2000 Daniels travelled to the UK where he played for Hetrior Cricket Club. Apart from cricket, Daniels is is a keen rugby player, and is a member of the Brumbies Rugby Club.
