Richard White NCU PRO

The culmination of this winters Andrew White NCU Cricket Academy will see the players tour the South African City of Cape Town, from the 21st March until 5th April 2018, where they will combine competitive fixtures and a high performance camp. Coaching of this group will be led by Northern Knights Head Coach Simon Johnston and Eugene Moleon, who will also draw on local expertise, notably from the Gary Kirsten Academy.

MG2 Cricket Brand (www.mg2cricket.co.uk) has sponsored personal kit bags for each of the players on the tour to South Africa. The MG2 Cricket brand was launched in 2007 in New Zealand by husband and wife team Marty and Megan Graham. Then in 2014, through a joint venture with Alastair Burton, the brand was launched in the UK and Ireland. Alastair is a businessman who is also a keen sportsman with a particular passion for cricket. He is heavily involved with local cricket in Northern Ireland at both club and provincial level. He was introduced to the MG2 brand by a New Zealand professional who played at his local club.

Alastair says, 'MG2 is happy to be involved in sponsoring and supporting youth cricket in the NCU. Already being a sponsor of the Andrew White Cricket Academy it was a good fit for us to also get involved with the youth tour to South Africa. This is a fantastic opportunity for the players who have been selected and we are sure that we will see their playing careers progress during the forthcoming summer, as was the case after the previous tour to South Africa in 2014. This is a very exciting time to be a young cricketer in Ireland and we hope to see some of these players pushing for full inter-provincial and international honours in the near future'.

Northern Cricket Union Chairman Alan Waite said, 'The NCU is extremely grateful to Alastair Burton not just for the MG2 sponsorship of the tour but his own personnel efforts in organising the tour brochure and organising the night at the races. We are also grateful to Guy Metcalfe and his staff at The Strangford Arms Hotel, Newtownards, for hosting the event'.

A tour brochure can be purchased from any member of the tour party for £5.

All Photos © Ian Johnston/CricketEurope