Cricket Eastern Cape (Pty) Ltd have announced that Proteas players Jacques Kallis, Mark Boucher, Makhaya Ntini, Robin Peterson, Johan Botha and Ashwell Prince have chosen to represent the Chevrolet Warriors franchise of the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa and this has local fans drooling.

Inter-office babble at water fountains in Port Elizabeth's 'Windy City' was dominated by this breaking news and Kallis has confirmed his status as a cricketing 'god' in the eyes of local fans of this provincial 'backwater' in South Africa.

The Eastern Cape, although steeped in history, is the poorest province in South Africa and has suffered terrible attrition over the last two decades as sport has become more and more professional. Gone are the golden days when Graeme Pollock played at St George's Park, the home of the first Test match played in South Africa and local fans had long given up expecting anything more than the regular flow of young talent out of the province.

Kallis is a rare breed of professional cricketer swimming up-stream and his move from his Cape Town home in the Western Cape to the 'frontiers' of Nelson Mandela Bay has locals taking down their tatty old Graeme Pollock posters and enshrining Kallis as the new King of St George's.

Like David Beckham's LA Galaxy move, Kallis has captured the imagination of the local fans as Kepler Wessels did when he returned from Australia and their star-studded line-up, I'm convinced will see a revival of the golden era of cricket in the province and a rebirth of the 'Duck Pond Enders' of St George's of the 80s.

Cricket is the better for it and strong local rivalry on the fields of Newlands, the Wanderers, Centurion, St George's, Kingsmead and Buffalo Park will see South Africa benefit on the international stage.