Cyril is one of those unfortunate anachronisms of history:
He wished he had been a Jeppe boy but he couldn’t undo the fact that his parents sent him to Troyeville High up the road.
To make amends he sent his three sons, Cyril (Jnr), Mark and Scott to Jeppe. They all excelled as sportsmen and ended up playing first class cricket. Since then he has always associated himself with Jeppe.
When he joined the staff as the cricket professional in 1984, Cyril was able to pour all his cricketing know-how, passion and love for the game into coaching top schoolboy teams which he did with considerable success.
After leaving Jeppe in 1988, Cyril went on to become South Africa’s leading cricketing umpire. He stood in 29 tests and 69 one-day internationals.
He was South Africa’s umpire at the 1996 World Cup in India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.
As far as cricket umpiring is concerned, Cyril was involved in a number of World Firsts:
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First Umpire to call for a TV replay;
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First umpire other than an English or Australian umpire to umpire an “Ashes” test;
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First umpire along with Steve Bucknor and Karl Liebenberg to be involved in rotation of umpires in a test match.
Cyril Mitchley has done South African and Jeppe Cricket proud. Through his MTN Gladiators exposure he has also become a household name.
We are greatly honoured that he has agreed to have the East Cricket Field named after him.
Presented by Mr Terry Blake
Chairman of the Cricket Patrons Association 2003 |
