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From Rwanda to the Africa T20 Cup

Emmanuel Sebareme walked from war-torn Rwanda to South Africa, now he's set to play alongside some of cricket's biggest names

Some of South Africa’s biggest names will take part in the inaugural Africa T20 Cup this weekend, but it is the tale of a 19-year-old Western Cape off-spinner that is capturing the attention of cricket fans around the world.

Rwanda isn’t fielding a team in the tournament, nor is cricket a traditional sport in the East African nation.

Yet Rwanda will have a presence at the Africa T20 Cup in the form of Emmanuel Sebareme, a talented teenage spinner whose parents fled the war for a new life in South Africa.

Sebareme and his family travelled through Malawi and the Democratic Republic of Congo – mostly on foot - and reached South Africa when he was five years old.

“We basically walked all the way from Rwanda,” Sebareme told South African online newspaper The Daily Maverick.

“There were nights when it was very cold. I remember us leaving many things along the way because the journey was very long and we needed to travel light. We couldn’t carry many things with us.”

It was in South Africa that Sebareme was introduced to cricket, honing his skills with a tennis ball in the Cape Flats community of Steenberg.

After joining a cricket club, his talents were soon noticed.

First, came selection for a Western Province U-19 team last year. That led to a call-up for the South Africa Schools XI, before he was selected for his first-class debut for Western Province in January. His sporting talents also earned him a scholarship to study economics at university.

The next step for Sebareme is competing with the Western Cape squad for the Africa T20 Cup, where he will play alongside wicketkeeper Dane Vilas, who made his Proteas Test debut last month. 

“I can’t wait to play in the Africa T20 Cup. It is the biggest tournament of my career,” Sebareme said.

“I am actually quite nervous because I am going to play against some Proteas, but the coach has worked on calming me down and giving me good game plans to execute.

“When I stay in a hotel now for cricket I lie there and look up at the ceiling and thank the almighty for giving me the talent to play this great game. Without cricket I don’t know where I would be.”

The Africa T20 Cup, hosted by South Africa as a curtain raiser to the 2015-16 domestic season, will see 13 South African provincial sides take on teams from Zimbabwe, Namibia and Kenya.

Split into four pools, the tournament will run from September 4 to October 4, with the winner of each group advancing to the semi-finals.

This weekend’s action will see Proteas Quinton de Kock (Easterns) and Albie Morkel (Northerns) in action as Easterns, Northerns, Western Province and a Zimbabwe President’s XI play six round-robin matches.