South Africa names youthful team for Zimbabwe Emerging tour

Brandon Moyo, [email protected]
CRICKET South Africa (CSA) has named a youthful team for the five match white-ball series against Zimbabwe Emerging that gets underway on Sunday at the Groenkloof Oval in Pretoria.
Contrary to the Zimbabwe Emerging team which most of its players have represented the Chevrons at the highest level, the South African team consists of young players who are yet to break into the senior Proteas team.
The 15-player youthful team will be captained by DP World Lions batter Mitchell van Buuren while National Academy lead and South Africa U19s head coach Malibongwe Maketa will take charge of the side.
The squad features several players that have been doing well over the past year including the reigning CSA Domestic Newcomer of the Year, Dafabet Warriors’ batter Jordan Hermann.
The 21-year-old scored 297 runs at an average of 49.50 during last season’s One-Day Cup campaign, including a top score of 150 against Paarl Rocks. His form also earned him a spot on the South Africa ‘A’ tour of Sri Lanka in June.
Former Proteas U19 skipper, George van Heerden and his then teammates Liam Alder, Matthew Boast, Michael Copeland and Valentine Kitime also made the team.
In a statement from CSA, the team’s head coach, Maketa said the series will be a good platform to finally put in action what they have been working on adding that his side is well balanced.
“We have a well-balanced squad that has worked hard for the past three months at the High-Performance Centre in Pretoria. They are looking forward to the series as it’s almost like a nice reward to put into practice what we have been working on for the past three months.
“The whole aim of the National Academy is to prepare these players to get ready for the next level and this series will provide the opportunity to come up against international opposition and really put their skills to the test.
“As coaches, we’re looking forward to having the guys play in different situations and roles, and ultimately see how they respond to playing under pressure,” he said.
During their preparations, the South African youngsters walso have the opportunity to learn from senior national team coaches.
“The players have also had the opportunity to work with national coaches in the build-up to this series, including sessions with Test head coach Shukri Conrad and bowling coach Piet Botha, as well as Proteas white-ball fielding coach Wandile Gwavu,” said Maketa.
Zimbabwe’s team, which was named earlier during the week left the country on Thursday and are under the tutelage of Chevrons assistant coach, Stuart Matsikenyeri.
This will not be the first time that a series between the Chevrons and Proteas’ next generation of cricketers takes place. In April last year, South Africa ‘A’ toured Zimbabwe for a white-ball series where they played against Zimbabwe ‘XI’ at Harare Sports Club. The two played three 50-over matches and T20 games.
All the five one-dayers will be played at the Groenkloof Oval. After tomorrow’s opener, the other matches will take place on 15, 18, 21 and 23 August.
South Africa Emerging squad for Zimbabwe Zimbabwe Emerging series:
Mitchell van Buuren (DP World Lions, captain), Liam Alder (Dafabet Warriors), Matthew Boast (Momentum Multiply Titans), Okuhle Cele (Hollywoodbets Dolphins), Michael Copeland (Gbets Rocks), Jordan Hermann (Dafabet Warriors), Valentine Kitime (Six Gun Grill Western Province), Andile Mogakane (Dafabet Warriors), Peter Nqaba (DP World Lions), Siya Plaatjie (Dafabet Warriors), Joshua Richards (DP World Lions), Daniel Smith (Six Gun Grill Western Province), Musa Twala (Momentum Multiply Titans), George van Heerden (Dafabet Warriors), and Nealan van Heerden (Dafabet Warriors)
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