The Warriors are a Division 1 cricket team representing the

Eastern Cape The Eastern Cape is one of the provinces of South Africa. Its capital is Bhisho, but its two largest cities are East London and Gqeberha. The second largest province in the country (at 168,966 km2) after Northern Cape, it was formed in ...

in South African domestic competitions. The Warriors take part in the CSA 4-Day Series first-class competition, the Momentum One-Day Cup and the

Mzansi Super League The Mzansi Super League (MSL) was a Twenty20 cricket (T20) franchise league held in South Africa. The competition was established in 2018 by Cricket South Africa (CSA) as a replacement for the failed T20 Global League, but only two editions wer ...

T20 competition. The team's home venue is St George's Park in

Port Elizabeth Gqeberha (), formerly Port Elizabeth and colloquially often referred to as P.E., is a major seaport and the most populous city in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. It is the seat of the Nelson Mandela Bay Metropolitan Municipality, Sou ...

, as well as

Buffalo Park Buffalo Park is a cricket ground located in East London, Eastern Cape, South Africa. It is one of the home grounds for the Warriors cricket team, and the principal home ground for Border. It can hold up to 20,000 spectators. Buffalo Park supers ...

East London East or Orient is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from west and is the direction from which the Sun rises on the Earth. Etymology As in other languages, the word is formed from the f ...

History

The Warriors were originally established as an entirely professional franchise team following reforms that were carried out to the South African domestic leagues in 2004-05. Traditionally, from 1893-94 to 2004-05, eleven provincial teams (with occasional additions) had competed in the

Currie Cup The Currie Cup is South Africa's premier domestic rugby union competition, played each winter and spring (June to October), featuring teams representing either entire provinces or substantial regions within provinces. Although it is the premier ...

. In 2004-05, the eleven provincial teams were rationalised into six new, entirely professional franchises, in all three formats. Eastern Province CC and Border CC were the former clubs that merged to form the Warriors.

Eastern Province CC and Border CC

Eastern Province and Border both competed in the provincial

from the 1890s until the creation of franchise teams in 2004. For both clubs, success was largely elusive throughout this period. Eastern Province's peak came in the mid to late 1980s with the team winning the series title in 1988-89, sharing the cup in 1989-90, and then a final outright win the following season in 1991-92. Four one-day titles, such as the Standard Bank Cup and the Nissan Cup, were also won during this time. Border was one of the weakest cricketing teams in South Africa during the provincial domestic era. Border hold the record for the lowest aggregate score by a first class side in a match. During a

match against

Natal NATAL or Natal may refer to: Places * Natal, Rio Grande do Norte, a city in Brazil * Natal, South Africa (disambiguation), a region in South Africa ** Natalia Republic, a former country (1839–1843) ** Colony of Natal, a former British colony ( ...

Jan Smuts Ground Jan Smuts Ground (formerly known as Recreation Ground and The Oval) is a cricket ground in East London, Eastern Cape, South Africa. The first recorded match on the ground was in 1906, when the East London cricket team hosted the touring Marylebo ...

in 1959-60, Border scored only 34 runs in the match - 16 in the first innings and 18 in the second innings. Border failed to win any first-class or List-A titles during the provincial era.

Franchise Era

Following the 2004-05 domestic reforms, the provincial teams of Eastern Province and

Border Borders are usually defined as geographical boundaries, imposed either by features such as oceans and terrain, or by political entities such as governments, sovereign states, federated states, and other subnational entities. Political borders c ...

were merged to form the Warriors franchise. The Warriors were the most unsuccessful franchise between 2004–05 and 2020-21 in the 4-Day domestic series, failing to win a single title. The 2009-10 season was the most successful for the team, winning both the one-day title and the T20 cup. One more one-day title followed in 2017-18, however this was shared with the Dolphins. Like many of the other franchises, sponsorship rights were granted for the beginning of the team name. Until 2015, the official name of the team was the Chevrolet Warriors.

Return to Provincial Cricket

In 2020, domestic cricket in South Africa was restructured once more and the six former franchise teams were dropped. In its place was a return to the more traditional two-division league format, with a total of fifteen professional teams competing. The previously semi-professional provincial cricket league has been absorbed, effectively forming the leagues second division. Promotion and relegation between the two divisions, not seen since the start of the franchise era in 2004, will return after 2023-24. The former name of Eastern Province or even Eastern Cape could have returned during this time, however Eastern Province Cricket decided to maintain the brand recognition from the franchise era, with the new team continuing to be called the Warriors. During the month of October each year, the side eschews their traditional black and electric green colours in favour of a bold pink playing kit to show their support of Breast Cancer Awareness as well as their fundraising efforts for Reach for Recovery.

Players

Current squad

Players with international caps are listed in bold. The above list represents the Warriors squad for the 2019/20 season.

Honours

* MTN Domestic One-Day Cup (1) 2009/2010 * Standard Bank Pro20 (1) - 2009/2010 * Momentum One Day Cup (1) Shared - 2017/2018

References

* ''South African Cricket Annual'' – various editions * ''Wisden Cricketers' Almanack'' – various editions {{South African cricket season 2003 establishments in South Africa South African first-class cricket teams Cricket clubs established in 2003 Cricket in the Eastern Cape