The beauty of the Veterans League is not only how it has kept cricketers active for so much longer, but also how it has brought friends back together.

Proteas Veterans captain Louis Koen has mentioned how he stopped playing for 15 years before dusting his boots off, and then immediately reacquainting himself with old cricketing friends and foes.

For some though, they have never been too far from each other’s lives.

In 1989, Mario Solomons, Saleem Mukuddem, Munier Holiday and Goolam Taliep played together for Western Province Schools.

Thirty-three years later, they all made the Western Province Veterans side that took part in the Interprovincial Tournament in Johannesburg – and decided to recreate a photo from three decades earlier.

Three of them – Solomons, Mukuddem and Taliep – were then selected for the Proteas Veterans side for the Over-50 World Cup, with Holiday on the reserve list.

“To still be able to play with these guys after all this time is absolutely amazing,” Taliep says.

“Myself and Saleem have been roommates through numerous tours – school tours, club tours. The friendship and the bond that we have is something I will always cherish.”

“I will have an entire chapter dedicated to Goolam in my autobiography!” Mukuddem jokes.

Left-arm swing bowler Grant Jansen is another player from that 1989 WP Schools side that is playing at the 2023 Over-50 World Cup, which is again being sponsored by Evergreen Lifestyle.