Unlike Soweto, where cricket interest has largely been manufactured, in Langa it has evolved over several generations.
Nkomo and Tsolekile are the shining stars who have emerged at the pinnacle of the township's talent.A crowd estimated at 6 000, most of whom paid R5, watched the game.''In this club we have developed a culture where you don't expect something for nothing,'' says Junior Sokanyile, chairman of Langa Cricket Club.For anyone with misgivings about a rainbow future for cricket, attending yesterday's game was an uplifting experience that included a tree-planting ceremony by water affairs minister Kader Asmal as Langa seeks to establish what Asmal describes as ``a normal cricket ground, with shade and dignity''.
For the West Indies it was another stop on a tour that has had more mystery than magic.
The confusion continued yesterday morning when Clive Lloyd, with no undue ceremony, told his players who would be staying for the limited overs part of the tour that follows this week's fifth Test.
Going home will be Courtney Walsh and Franklyn Rose, their injured fast bowlers; Clayton Lambert, Stuart Williams and Mervyn Dillon.
In their place will arrive allrounders Keith Arthurton and Keith Semple, left-arm spinner Neil McGarrell and fast bowler Reon King.
The West Indies' complete squad for the seven-match one-day series, that begins with a day/night game at the Wanderers on Friday, January 22, is: Brian Lara (captain), Philo Wallace, Junior Murray, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Keith Arthurton, Carl Hooper, Darren Ganga, Floyd Reifer, Ridley Jacobs, Neil McGarrell, Keith Semple, Curtly Ambrose, Nixon McLean, Reon King, Rawl Lewis.
In choosing their squad, the logic of the West Indian thinking was not immediately apparent, with the inconsistent Wallace the only specialist opening batsman remaining although Murray is fairly well established as a one-day opener.
Dillon, who bowled steadily during the Newlands Test and batted with more resolve than most of the specialist batsmen, is unlucky to be dropped, while it appears that Ottis Gibson's call-up for Newlands was no more than an emergency measure.
Yesterday, Chanderpaul made 81 off 102 balls to enable the tourists to make 231 for six off their 50 overs, a reasonable effort on a new pitch that played well for its age but had some uneven bounce.
Most of the Invitation XI batsmen made a start but found the legspin of Lewis too much.
Lewis took five for 25 as the West Indians won by 33 runs.
The two local fast bowlers, Nkomo and Freeman Simelela, did well at the start of the innings, with only 33 runs scored in the first 10 overs.
Simelela had one for 19 from his first six overs.He had Chanderpaul caught behind by Tsolekile but went for 47 in his next four, mainly because he bore the full brunt of a brief but brutal assault by Hooper, whose 26 runs were scored off 13 balls and included two sixes off Simelela.
Nkomo, who received a university pass at Jacques Kallis's old school, Wynberg Boy's High earlier in the week, bowled impressively.
Nkomo took one for 26 from eight overs, bowling Williams, having Reifer dropped and having the satisfaction of bowling to Lara and remaining unscathed.Alphonso Thomas, 21, a medium-paced graduate from the Western Cape academy, had the individual triumph of the day when he bowled Lara with a yorker.
He finished with two for 33 from 10 overs.
Sokanyile, proud of Langa's achievements as a focal point for the community, is justifiably concerned that the best players will be lost to the club should the likes of Tsolekile and Nkomo, both contracted to Western Province, not make the Western Province team and find themselves playing for other provinces under the new pool system.
Contributed by Management (help@cricinfo.com)