Latest news with #SACA
Yahoo
17-07-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Batter Gorantla signs 'multi-year' Surrey contract
Batter Nikhil Gorantla has signed a "multi-year" full-time contract with Surrey after impressing in the second XI. Gorantla scored a double hundred for Essex's second XI against Yorkshire in 2022 and also hit a century for Northumberland against Durham the following year. "I'm looking forward to getting around the group and learning from the wealth of experienced players and coaches at the club," he told the Surrey website. The 22-year-old will begin training with the Three Feathers' first team this week. Surrey's high performance advisor Alec Stewart added: "Not every journey to a professional contract is seamless. "Nik's a shining example of how hard work and patience can be rewarded. The guidance and coaching he has received from SACA [South Asian Cricket Academy], who help with opportunities for young cricketers, has been exceptionally important." Surrey top of Blast group after beating Middlesex 'Huge gap' between Hundred hosts & other counties England's Wyatt-Hodge extends Surrey contract
BBC News
17-07-2025
- Sport
- BBC News
Batter Gorantla signs 'multi-year' Surrey contract
Batter Nikhil Gorantla has signed a "multi-year" full-time contract with Surrey after impressing in the second scored a double hundred for Essex's second XI against Yorkshire in 2022 and also hit a century for Northumberland against Durham the following year."I'm looking forward to getting around the group and learning from the wealth of experienced players and coaches at the club," he told the Surrey website, 22-year-old will begin training with the Three Feathers' first team this high performance advisor Alec Stewart added: "Not every journey to a professional contract is seamless."Nik's a shining example of how hard work and patience can be rewarded. The guidance and coaching he has received from SACA [South Asian Cricket Academy], who help with opportunities for young cricketers, has been exceptionally important."
Bloomberg
16-07-2025
- Business
- Bloomberg
Cerba Healthcare Bank Debt Trades Before Talks With Creditors
The sale of a piece of a Cerba Healthcare SACA bank loan signals lenders are seeking to trim their exposure to the French laboratories business before the start of debt talks. A €30 million ($35 million) portion of Cerba's revolving credit facility was sold at just below 70 cents on the euro Tuesday, according to people familiar with the matter, who asked not to be identified discussing private trades.
Indian Express
28-06-2025
- Sport
- Indian Express
How rejected South Asian players are finding a pathway into County system
Tom Brown didn't want the findings of his doctoral research to gather dust in some library, nor did he fancy the idea of being on television talking about his work. A competent club cricketer in multicultural Birmingham, and later Warwickshire's performance coach, Brown's PhD was about a statistic that was a riddle to him. On the English cricket circuit, he would often hear that British South Asians form 30 percent of those playing recreational games but only 5 percent of them pursue it professionally. Brown's academic fact-finding showed that the problem wasn't with the cricket-crazy South Asians. What needed to change was the system, which favoured privately-educated and white cricketers. That's when the doer in him got busy. 'As a coach, researcher and player, I've gone through the worries of the system. I felt responsible; if I didn't do it, who is going to do it?' he tells The Indian Express. Brown, with the help of his cricket contacts, would start the South Asian Cricket Academy (SACA), an initiative that brings non-contracted brown cricketers – some rejected, some overlooked, some disillusioned – back on the radar. Helping him in his ventures, over the years, have been the South Asian community's role models like Kabir Ali, Moeen Ali, Adil Rashid and Owais Shah, players who Brown had shared the cricket field with. In about three-and-half years since its inception, SACA has become England's most productive assembly line for the counties. 'We have 14 guys who have professional contracts, making us one of the most successful academies in the country, maybe the world …,' he laughs. He isn't joking, merely stating facts. The SACA website celebrates the graduation of every pupil. There is Aman Rao, the 6'6' pacer with natural bounce, who has joined Gloucestershire; Vansh Jani, the batsman with four big hundreds, now plays for Warwickshire; Zaman Akhter is said to be England's fastest pacer. He turned out for England Lions against the Indians during the ongoing tour. And then there's SACA's grandest success story – the one featuring leg-spinner Jafer Chouhan. Just last month, he was picked for England's ODI team that toured the West Indies. He is on the wish-list of many T20 franchises also. All of these players were weeded out of the system, till SACA gave them a second life. England suddenly has a larger pool and don't be surprised if a spike is seen in South Asian representation. 'We pick players who are 18 and don't have a contract. They are trained. They are also given gym, nutrition and psychological support. We give them basically everything a pro cricket player needs. We form a team that plays county second and main teams in friendlies,' Brown explains. Most importantly, at SACA, they also are sensitive to the culture of the South Asian community, something Brown's research shows had been missing on England's cricketing greens for years. He calls it 'cultural ignorance', different from racial bias. Brown explains with an example that shows the depth of his research. 'If I am training a South Asian kid and he is looking down and not asking questions, I would probably look at him and go, 'well, he's not interested', he hasn't got the right character for this.' I didn't know that that's how they (South Asians) show respect,' he says, pointing how 'cultural ignorance' would have cut short many promising careers. With SACA, those who missed out are returning and the stories of Amar, Vansh, Akhter and Chouhan have lengthened the queue. Last time, Brown says, they got about 500 applications. They shortlisted 60 but could have easily taken in 150 quality players. It was the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) who had funded Brown's research and they have been backing SACA for the last two years. Earlier, it was Birmingham City University. Those picked have quality. 'There was this incident early in the year when 15 of our best players were training. And there were others playing two games, against Yorkshire and Essex at the same time. We won both those games,' he says. It is at such games that the academy boys are spotted and signed by counties. SACA is around to negotiate. 'We create a bit more competition in the market. We tell counties that if you're not going to sign this player, we're going to take him to another county,' he says. When SACA players get signed, Brown is happy but that isn't his most satisfying moment. It's the bonhomie between players from India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and others playing as a team. 'When I started this program, people thought it would be very… almost toxic… but the real strength of the programme is the unity of the community. They are really close-knit. They work and help each other achieve this dream of becoming professional cricketers. I think it is so powerful and that's the most rewarding thing for you.' It needed Dr Brown to address English cricket's very brown problem.
The Citizen
01-06-2025
- Automotive
- The Citizen
Braai royalty wanted: Could you be SA's next boerewors champion?
Braai royalty wanted: Could you be SA's next boerewors champion? If your boerewors game is strong enough to earn you a legendary nickname like Grill Sergeant, Jamie Olivewors, or Braaian Reynolds, Shoprite and Checkers invite you to enter your finest recipe into the 33rd annual Championship Boerewors competition before entries close on June 20. South Africa's 2025 Boerewors Champion will walk away with the grand prize of a brand-new Toyota Fortuner 2.4 GD-6 RB AT valued at R705 800, and the bragging rights of having their winning recipe sold at Shoprite and Checkers stores nationwide. By showcasing the nation's most authentic and delicious traditional recipes, made with the best quality ingredients, SA's No. 1 Championship Boerewors has firmly established itself as a customer-favourite over the past three decades. Over the last year alone, Shoprite and Checkers butcheries sold close to 6 million kilograms (6 000 tonnes) of Championship Boerewors – enough to make 56 million boerewors rolls. 'This competition is a celebration of South Africa, not only the country's rich food heritage, but also the culture we've built spending time with friends and family around braai fires,' said 2024 Championship Boerewors competition winner, Ruard Briel. 'Winning the title of Boerewors Champion, and becoming part of this legacy, was such an honour. All the contestants were treated like royalty, and the experience was unforgettable, which is why I will be entering again.' Participants are expected to demonstrate skill and mastery of the full boerewors crafting process – from blending the perfect mix of herbs and spices, to processing the meat and producing perfectly stuffed and cooked boerewors. All entries will be assessed by a panel of culinary experts from the South African Chefs Association (SACA). Submitted recipes must comply with traditional boerewors making guidelines and will be rigorously vetted before moving to the next round. Once validated, the judges will shortlist 30 recipes before narrowing them down to the top 10 finalists. The finalists take part in a special live cook-off event where a panel of judges will crown one deserving contestant as the Championship Boerewors winner for 2025. The winner and runners up receive the following: • First prize: A new Toyota Fortuner 2.4 GD-6 RB AT and R20 000 in cash • Second prize: R50 000 in cash • Third prize: R30 000 in cash For more information or to enter, visit the official Championship Boerewors website at At Caxton, we employ humans to generate daily fresh news, not AI intervention. Happy reading!
