Pineapple Cricket Tournament 2012

By admin - 25 January 2014

THE Annual Port Alfred and Bathurst Cricket Tournament is an event familiarly known as "the Pineapple Tournament”, because of the number of pineapple farmers who have taken part over the years. The dual name can be confusing to those new to the area, but hopefully the brief history set out below will help in understanding the essence of the tournament.

The first tournament to be staged in Bathurst was held in 1904 at the Bathurst Agricultural Show Grounds. Prior to this the tournament was held at various venues in the area, notably Salem, Upper Karige, Barville Park, Kasouga and Wesley in the Peddie district. At the tournament in Bathurst four teams took part. Now, 108 years later there are 26 teams competing in five sections.

The tournament is played on a round robin basis. The presentation of the forty or so trophies and prizes takes place at the Port Alfred Country Club after the final match.

Cricket has been a traditional game in Albany since the early times with clubs existing at Buchners on the Bushmans River, The Kaga (Bedford), and the Fish River as far back as 1845. In fact, in certain households in the area there are only two seasons in the year; cricket season and hunting season. The date March 20 1920 is an important one in the history of the tournament as it was on this date a meeting was held and the tournament was given its name; The Port Alfred and Bathurst Districts Tournament.

At this meeting DR WH Atherstone was president, Mr Marshall was chairman and Mr Howell secretary. A trophy costing ₤50 was purchased in England by Mr Tom Parker of Parker & Co and was first competed for in 1923 when the first tournament under the new name was held.

The tournament was disbanded between 1940 and 1945 because of the second world war but was revived again in 1946 and is still going strong today.

The Pineapple Tournament is probably unique in that it is unlikely farmers anywhere else in the world down-tools for eight days to play cricket. Judging by the enthusiasm shown each year it seems this tradition will continue for many decades to come.

Full fixture list for the 108^th Pineapple Cricket Tournament

Date	Venue	Team		Team	League
Saturday March10	Country Club	Sidbury	vs	Cuylerville	1 Sec A
	School A	Southwell		Port Alfred	1 Sec B
	School B	Salem		Manley Flats	1 Sec B
	Hospital	Cuylerville2		PAHS	2 Sec B
	Hilpert	Southwell2		Early Birds	2 Sec B
	Air School	Kenton		Salem2	2 Sec B
Sunday March 11	Country Club	Southwell		Salem	1 Sec B
	School A	Port Alfred		Manley Flats	1 Sec B
	School B	Rhodents		GHT Invite	1 Sec A
	Hospital	Manley Flats2		Station Hill	2 Sec A
	Hilpert	Port Alfred2		PAHS	2 Sec A
	Air School	Shrews		Early Birds	2 Sec B
Monday March 12	Country Club	Sidbury		Rhodents	1 Sec A
	School A	Cuylerville		GHT Invite	1 Sec A
	School B	Cuylerville2		Manley Flats2	2 Sec A
	Hospital	Southwell2		Salam2	2 Sec B
	Hilpert	Kenton		Shrews	2 Sec B
	Air School	Station Hill		Port Alfred2	2 Sec A
Tuesday March 13	Country Club	Volkswagen		Oliphantskop	Invitation
	School A	Southwell		Manley Flats	1 Sec B
	School B	Port Alfred		Salem	1 Sec B
	Hospital	Southwell2		Kenton	2 Sec B
	Hilpert	Early Birds		Salem2	2 Sec B
	Air School	Sidbury2		Rhodes Rats	Invitation
Wednesday March 14	Country Club	East Legends		West Legends	Invitation
	School A	Cuylerville		Rhodents	1 Sec A
	School B	Sidbury		GHT Invite	1 Sec A
	Hospital	Cuylerville2		Port Alfred2	2 Sec B
	Hilpert	PAHS		Manley Flats2	2 Sec B
	Air School	Albany		Tiger Titans	Invitation Cup
Thursday March 15	Country Club	Salem2		Shrews	2 Sec B
	School A	Winner 1 Sec A		R/u 1 Sec B	Semi Final A
	School B	Winner 1 Sec B		R/u 1 Sec A	Semi Final B
	Hospital	Cuylerville2		Station Hill	12 Sec A
	Hilpert	Early Birds		Kenton	2 Sec B
	Air School	Port Alfred2		Manley Flats2	2 Sec A
Friday March 16	Country Club	Cathcart		Middleburg	Invitation Cup
	School A	3^rd 1 Sec A		4^th 1 Sec B	Plate Semi Final A
	School B	3^rd 1 Sec B		4^th 1 Sec A	Plate Semi final B
	Hospital	Southwell2		Shrews	2 Sec B
	Hilpert	Nieu Bethesda		Fort Beaufort	Invitation Cup
	Air School	PAHS		Station Hill	2 Sec A
Saturday March 17	Country Club	Winners SFA		Winers SFB	Final
	School A	Winners PSFA		Winners PSFB	Plate final
	School B	Nieu Bethesda		Cathcart	Invitation Cup
	Hospital	Winners 2 Sec A		Winners 2 Sec B	2^nd final
	Hilpert	Fort Beaufort		Tiger Titans	Invitation cup
	Air School	Albany		Middelburg	Invitation Cup

Pineapple Cricket Tournament 2012

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