Ken Borland

The rumours that junior world cup winning captain Aiden Markram could be lost to South African cricket are wide of the mark with the 21-year-old confirming on Tuesday that he has signed a contract with the Titans, who will, however, be losing four of their talented youngsters ahead of next season.

Markram will be spending the off-season playing for Walkden in the Bolton League, but the promising top-order batsman will be back in time for what is already shaping up as a massive summer for him. Especially since Theunis de Bruyn and Graeme van Buuren, two of his team-mates in the all-conquering Tuks side, are moving on to fresh pastures. Corbin Bosch, the opening bowler for Markram’s triumphant SA U19 team, has already relocated to Australia, having failed to break into the Titans team this season.

The Titans have also lost out on the services of wicketkeeper/batsman Mangaliso Mosehle, who is moving to the Highveld Lions next season.

Van Buuren has earned a two-year contract with Gloucestershire and, because his wife Hannah, the former Tuks conditioning coach, was born in London and has a British passport, he will try to qualify for England.

De Bruyn, one of the brightest batting talents in the country, will be moving to the Knights for the 2016/17 season, opening the way for Markram to play more regular franchise cricket, having made just two Momentum One-Day Cup appearances this season.

“I’m looking forward to spending the off-season in different conditions and growing my game, but I’m happy with where I am in my career. Any opportunity I get for the Titans I’m just going to try and take, but at the moment I’m really focusing on my preparation. At school, there might be four or five good players in the opposition, but in senior cricket there’s a lot more good players, so it takes time to work out how to play at that level. But the more cricket you play, the faster you learn,” Markram told The Citizen on Tuesday.

Van Buuren has been a highly-valued performer for the Titans, averaging 45 in the Momentum One-Day Cup and 30 in the RamSlam T20 Challenge, as well as bowling economical left-arm spin, but with doors opening up for him in county cricket, it was only natural that he would seize the opportunity.

“I’m not going with any regrets, I’m not at all complaining about anything, I owe the Titans for everything I’ve achieved, having played for them since Northerns U7s 18 years ago. So I’m very thankful to them, but this is a great opportunity in terms of my career as a professional cricketer and not a lot of players have this chance.

“I’m excited for something new, an unbelievable opportunity and a new chapter. Obviously I want to play international cricket, that’s the main reason for playing because you always want to push yourself to be the best. I’ll qualify for England when I’m 29 and until then I’ll just let things take their course,” Van Buuren told The Citizen.

Theunis de Bruyn, the Assupol Tuks captain, set the opening day of the Red Bull Campus Cricket Finals in London alight as his magnificent unbeaten century carried his team to the most emphatic of victories on the first day of the competition yesterday.

De Bruyn plundered a 49-ball century as Tuks, who had won the toss, slammed 205 for four in the T20 match against the University of Liberal Arts, the Bangladesh representatives in the Varsity World Cup.

The Tuks openers, Aiden Markram (22) and Gerry Pike (34), provided the stable foundation for De Bruyn to launch in the closing overs.

The 21-year-old finished on a phenomenal 137 not out off just 60 balls, with 12 fours and eight sixes, as he took 51 runs off the last three overs, including 24 off the final over bowled by medium-pacer Abdullah Imran.

Far from being wild hitting like a cur feeding frenzy, it was a clinical, ruthless display of batting by De Bruyn.

The Tuks bowlers then dished out a similarly efficient display as they restricted the University of Liberal Arts to 91 for seven, clinching a 114-run victory.

New-ball bowler Corbin Bosch (3-0-16-2) and lanky off-spinner Ruben Claassen (4-0-22-2) were the most successful bowlers, but everyone contributed. There were also wickets for seamer Johan Wessels and left-arm spinner David Mogotlane, but none of the eight bowlers used conceded more than six-an-over.

Tuks play England’s Leeds Bradford MCC today, before finishing their round-robin against Jamaica Inter-Collegiate Sports Association on Wednesday.

The West Indians won a low-scoring encounter against Leeds Bradford yesterday, so the hosts are bound to come out firing against Tuks today.