Faye bats Guinness record

On Friday October 7, Damian Fuller and Faye Tunnicliffe, above, from the FP Elite Cricket Academy in Somerset West, started their attempt to become world record holders. Faye’s challenge was to set a world record for continuous batting by a woman with the Guinness Book of Records, with a minimum of 24 hours required for this attempt to be recognised. Her personal target was 35 hours. Damian had to beat an existing world record of 51 hours, but had a personal target of 55 hours. A maximum break of five minutes an hour was permitted for the personal needs of each player. Faye set her 35 hour record at 11pm on Saturday October 8, and Damian completed his achievement at 7pm on Sunday October 9, to applause from a packed cricket academy, having batted for 55 hours. This great challenge was embarked upon by Faye and Damian to raise enough money to put eight underprivileged children through the FP Elite Cricket Academy, including their transport from home, sports equipment and food. The academy will provide the coaching for free, and a separate FP Development Fund has been set up to ensure that all donations are properly allocated and audited. To date, four children will start their programme in January 2017, and as soon as sufficient funds are raised, additional children will be identified to benefit from this opportunity. Faye, a Grade 12 pupil at Somerset College, will represent Boland at the National under-19 Girls’ Cricket Week in Pretoria this coming week.