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A total of 32 teams from across the globe are preparing to converge on Capetown in South Africa in December to take part in the Last Man Stands World Championships. Among them will be local cricketing side The Conquerors, who will be representing England from among 1,400 sides, who originally set out on the road to the southern hemisphere final earlier this year.
Last Man Stands (LMS) is a two hour, eight-a-side, T20 cricket game for all abilities. Played in cricket grounds globally, LMS is the world’s largest and widest-reaching amateur cricket league. It was founded in 2005, with franchise operations in many countries.
The Conquerors, which was formed a couple of years ago under a different name, had to play a series of matches locally, regionally and nationally this year before eventually winning the national final in London at the end of September – the first-ever Derby team to do so. This has given them the opportunity to represent the country in the world finals, which run from December 9 to 17.
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In the process of winning nationally, the team received a £5,000 prize and began planning their trip to South Africa, where they will be up against teams from other cricket-loving nations such as India, Sri Lanka and Australia.
Owner and captain of The Conquerors CC is engineer Sulaiman Khan, who is credited for much of the team’s success. A tribute to his leadership on the side’s Facebook site said: “The man behind the scenes for ‘engineering’ the success of an LMS national winning side.
“All the hard work behind the team, both on and off the field, his tactical changes and ability to read the game and make crucial changes at important times, has been a big reason for the team conquering. His crucial 29 off 18 and 17 runs in the super over against Nottingham Kings led to The Conquerors qualifying for the LMS Nationals. From there onwards, everything else is history.
“A lot of respect and may the journey continue under Raja Sulaiman Khan.”
The team has also been grateful for the sponsorship it has received, especially from taxi firm Albatross Cars and also restaurant Chickitos in Burton Road.
Player Waj Hussain told Derbyshire Live: “We are really excited to represent England and proud that we have played our matches beating everyone on the way to the final and then we won that.
“There are 14 of us going to South Africa and we are hoping that our winning ways will continue. We have a lot to be thankful to Sulaiman for and also to our sponsors. We are hoping that we can do Derby proud. Next year, we would like to set up our own cricket academy.”
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