The Northern Cape cricket team is the first-class cricket team that represents Northern Cape province in South Africa. The team was previously known as Griqualand West from 1890/91 to 2014/15, and Kimberley from 1889/90 to 1890/91.
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For the purposes of the SuperSport Series, Griqualand West merged with Free State to form the Eagles from October 2004, but Griqualand West retained its independent status as a team in the provincial three-day competition. It also competed in the provincial one-day and Twenty20 competitions, and the Africa T20 Cup. The current coach, appointed in July 2013, is JP Triegaardt, a former player.
Honours
Club history
The team was originally called Kimberley and began playing in December 1889 at the start of first-class cricket in South Africa. Kimberley were the inaugural winners of the Currie Cup in 1889/90, and renamed for the 1890/91 season, playing their first match as Griqualand West in December 1890. In 1897, the Barnato Memorial Trophy was given to the Griqualand West Coloured Cricket Board, a union for all black cricket players that had been setup in 1892. Griqualand West participated in the first Barnato Tournament in 1898/99, along with Eastern Province, Queenstown, Southern Border, and Western Province. In 1904, Griqualand West was one of the three founding members of the South African Coloured Cricket Board (SACCB). In total, there were thirteen editions of the SACCB-run Barnato Cup tournaments, which were played between 1904 and 1951/52, and Griqualand West won the competition in 1910, and hosted the competition in 1904 and 1913.
In 2004/05, the format of the SuperSport Series was changed, with the reduction of eleven provincial teams into six franchises. After missing the first season of the franchise tournament due to a legal dispute, Griqualand West joined up with Free State to become the Diamond Eagles, which became the Knights for the 2010/11 season.
Just before the beginning of the 2015-16 season it was announced that the team was to be renamed Northern Cape, in line with the national government directive that provincial sporting bodies should have their governance structure aligned with the geo-political structure of the country. As Griqualand West, the team played 553 first-class matches, for 117 wins, 260 losses and 176 draws.
Venues
Venues have included: