Reviving a legacy: the Naidoo Cricket Oval's Joburg journey

IN 2017, Seano Naidoo decided to re-establish his family's beloved Durban-based cricket club, the Puntans Hill Sports Club, but in another province, Gauteng.

- MONISHKA GOVENDER

While the Durban club folded in 1960 due to the lack of financial support and challenges not within its control, Seano's renamed club, the Naidoo Cricket Oval, is making strides at its base in Hawkins Estate, Johannesburg.

Last week, Seano, 49, added a sentimental touch to the current club's infrastructure. He took an original 1956 team photograph of his uncles, who comprised the Puntans Hill Sports Club, and placed it in a handmade frame. The wood from the frame was salvaged from seats from the Wanderers Stadium.

"The wood, bearing the weight of history, was recently salvaged from the iconic Wanderers Stadium. We wanted to integrate that painful past, where the family team could not gain recognition, into our hopeful present," said Seano, the chairman of the Naidoo Cricket Oval.

"Even the Naidoo Cricket Oval sign is crafted from the wooden stands that were removed from the Wanderers Stadium. These seats were generally reserved for non-whites during apartheid."

Seano, who used his leadership in financial services to build Naidoo Cricket Oval, said the pieces, proudly displayed on the ground and clubhouse, served as a reminder "of how far we've come as a nation and as a club".