Sir Conrad Hunte - we salute you

SIR CONRAD HUNTE

Cricket is one of the greatest sports in the world because it encapsulates so many virtues.

Cricket teaches self-confidence; cricket teaches team spirit; cricket teaches fair play; but most of all, cricket gives one the chance to make new friends for life.

In all the years that cricket has been played around the world, there certainly cannot have been a player who had all the attributes that cricket offers, than the late Sir Conrad Hunte.

Sir Conrad was the embodiment of all that is good about cricket and, consequently, all that is good about life.

We, in South Africa, were not able to see Sir Conrad play the game at the highest level and the reason for this is historical.

However, we in South Africa, were most fortunate in that we were able to have him to ourselves at a time when our country' most needed his skills, his passion, his compassion and his commitment to the upliftment of the disadvantaged.

Sir Conrad's contribution to the transformation of South African cricket and its consequent ripple effect into our society as a whole, is inestimable.

He inspired thousands of young people; boys and girls from the black townships to throw off the shackles of the apartheid past and to go forward, through cricket, to a brighter and happier future.

Sir Conrad's commitment to overcome these challenges inspired us all to work harder to mend the mistakes of the past.

He preached reconciliation and unity and with this message, brought people who had been torn apart by the facial policies of our past, together through cricket.

Sir Conrad also used his considerable skills to teach youngsters to reach their potential against the odds and today there are thousands of young South Africans who are better people because of his influence.

He also took it upon himself to resurrect Womens' Cricket in South Africa and he single-handedly ensured that our women's team made their mark at the last World Cup.

Comparisons are not always good things to make, but I would like to suggest that Sir Conrad Hunte was the 'Nelson Mandela' of cricket.

Certainly, Sir Conrad became one of South Africa's greatest adopted sons and I would like to assure his family, and his many friends around the cricketing world, that his legacy will live on in South Africa.

He has shown us the way, and we will not waiver.

Sir Conrad - we salute you and we will never forget you.