THE number of Bulawayo schools that will take part in this year’s annual Baines Junior Dumisani Mankunzini Winter Cricket Festival has been reduced by half from 24 to 12 to accommodate competitive teams from outside the city.

Organisers of the fifth edition of the tournament, which will run from July 29-31, said they had reserved 12 slots for out of Bulawayo participants.

Last year, 22 Bulawayo schools took part in the tournament that was won by Milton Junior School, which beat Gampu Primary in the final.

Teams from out of Bulawayo that were invited for the 2015 edition were South Africa’s Cubs Cricket Academy and Future Stars Academy, which is made up of players from Petra, White Stone and Masiyephambili schools.

Dumisani Mankunzini, founder of the tournament, said they’re turning the annual competition into a national event and want the best cricket schools to compete.

“We’re aware that the move to go national and reduce the number of Bulawayo schools at the tournament will trigger mixed reactions, but this is meant to develop the sport and motivate schools to work harder to be in the final,” said Mankunzini.

“Bulawayo will still have most slots, but only the city’s best 12 schools will participate in this year’s edition. We will be sending coaches attached at DMCI to local schools so that they train kids before a qualifying tournament is held on the last weekend of next month.”

Some Bulawayo schools expected to take up the 12 slots are Milton Junior, Mtshingwe, Insukamini, Gampu and Newmansford.