7 November 2018

Former South African captain, Kepler Wessels has entertained a crowd of almost 100 guests at the Lord’s Taverners ACT PM’s XI Match Dinner.

The event, which was held at the Commonwealth Club in Yarralumla on 30 October in the lead-up to the PM’s XI Match against South Africa at Manuka the following day, heard about Kepler’s diverse career, with both Australia and South Africa.

While the fact that the event fell so early in the cricket season kept the attendance slightly down, it was still a highly successful event.

The dinner also saw the announcement of the recipients of the Graham Wilkinson Memorial Junior Taverners Awards for 2018 – Matilda Lugg and Tom Engelbrecht.

Matilda, or Tilly as she is known, is a wicket-keeper batsman who has represented ACT/NSW Country from under 15s all the way through to under 18s. She left home (NSW) and relocated to Canberra after being offered a playing contract with the ACT Meteors.

Tom is a member of the ACT Comets squad. He is a leg-spin bowling all-rounder from Tuross Head on the south coast of NSW who has been involved in the Cricket ACT pathway for the past five years.

Both Tilly and Tom received Kookaburra cricket kits.

Adding in the $935 raised through coin donations at the PM’s XI Match, the PM’s XI Match Dinner raised almost $7000, which will go towards the work the Lord’s Taverners does supporting young and disadvantaged local athletes.