Jumbos are red and the Dolphins will be black...and red will definitely be the colour to wear at the first leg of the Standard Bank Competition when the EP Jumbo's and the Kwazulu Natal Dolphins meet on Valentines Day at St. George's Park for the Standard Bank Competition Semi-Final.

Captain of the EP Jumbo side, Carl Bradfield, appealed to every Jumbo supporter in the Eastern Province to wear anything red on the night of this important clash.

"I would like to use this opportunity to thank the supporters for their ongoing support throughout the season. We are very excited about the semi-final and we will try out best for the cricket community of Port Elizabeth.

"Being Valentines Day on Wednesday, it will be a great opportunity to bring you better half to the semi-final and to spend a romantic evening at St. George's Park.

"Watch out for the red and fiery Jumbos," he warns.

For Jumbo supporters who do not have red clothes, but would not want to let their team down, EP Cricket has a cheap and very fashionable solution.

At all the entrances to St. George's Park, a limited amount (1000) Red T-shirts will be on sale for R10. The T-shirt has a picture of Stan the Duck, the Standard Bank Duck, holding a bunch of flowers for his Valentine. The words, "bowled over on Valentines Day" are printed on the T-shirt.

Eastern Province Cricket is not only committed to win the first leg of the Standard Bank Semi-Final on 14 February against Kwazulu Natal, but is also committed to the public and the Community Chest of Port Elizabeth and Uitenhage.

According to Leigh Deyzel, Senior Cricket Administrator of EP Cricket, they became involved with Community Chest last year in an effort to give something back to the community who has supported over them years.

"At about the same time, the Community Chest started a club called, Friends of the Red Feather. To belong to this club, one donates money to the fund and EP Cricket fell in and now all the contracted players and some of the EP Cricket staff contributes to this worthy cause," she says.

During a cocktail party last year, EP Cricket invited all the beneficiaries of the Community Chest, to meet the Eastern Province Players. "This resulted in an agreement, that whenever one of the organisations need a player for a fundraising event or something similar, they would use one of the EP players."

Last year during the Standard Bank Competition, EP Cricket appealed to Jumbo supporters to bring old clothes to the matches to donate to the Community Chest. "We collected a huge amount and especially the schools made a big difference to a lot of people's lives. This year we will focus on food, because according to the Community Chest they are in dire need of food."

Karen Doyle, Development Manager of Community Chest, said since EP Cricket has joined Friends of the Red Feather, they have been wonderfully supportive. "People don't understand the difference that every little bit makes, that's why we appreciate the boxes that EP Cricket puts to our disposal for the collection of food."

During the semi-final game on Wednesday, 14 February, there will be a chance again to donate non-perishable food and tin food to the Community Chest.

While cricket supporters come to see all the action at St. George's Park, they can do their good deed for the day, by donating to the Community Chest. The boxes will be at the gates where the tickets will also be on sale.

Tickets are available from the Key Entermark office at St. George's Park at R20 for adults and R10 for scholars. There will also be tickets available at the gates. Do not forget to bring food to the match for the Community Chest and remember to wear RED!

The practice times for the two teams is as follows:

Kwazulu Natal Dolphins - Tuesday 13 February - 14:30 on the B-field.
EP Jumbos - Tuesday 13 February - 16:30 on the B-field.

© Eastern Province Cricket Board