History
The Veterinary World Cup Cricket was first played in 2003 in South Africa during the World Cup Cricket hosted by South Africa. The local vets from the KwaZulu/Natal region have played an annual cricket tournament for a number of years and the organising committee decided to play an international event coinciding with the World Cup Cricket starting with the 2003 event.
The local vets played in an annual cricket event featuring a number of regional vets teams, industry, government vets, students and a local wildlife contingent. About 8 to 12 teams get together for a weekend of social interaction and played cricket according to some old traditions. The event was not about who won, but the spirit of the camaraderie. The tournament was rounded off with a traditional match between 2 local sides from KwaZulu/Natal (Durban and the Midlands teams).
The rules of the tournament are that games are played as 22 eight ball overs per innings, no more than 3 overs per bowler, a batsman has to retire on reaching 50 runs but can return if the team is all out prior to the end of the allotted overs. Each team would play 2 games per day in a round robin format with the finals bring held on the last day. Number of wins and then strike rate determine the finalists. A whole range of traditional and 'spot' prizes are awarded for cricketing talent and any other 'notorious' talent displayed by an individual during the tournament.
