Six Gun Grill Western Province Blitz coach Salieg Nackerdien today confirmed his 15-man squad for the upcoming CSA T20 Challenge which takes place from 17 October - 5 November at JB Marks Oval in Potchefstroom.
Tony de Zorzi will captain the squad, with Kyle Verreynne confirmed as vice-captain. Dane Paterson, straight from a successful season in county cricket, comes into the squad after his return to Cape Town.
Nandre Burger takes his place in the squad after an injury curtailed his involvement last season while Ethan Cunningham gets his first taste of professional action. WP Academy allrounder Abdallah Bayoumy, who was part of the Division 2 title-winning SAU19 side, has been selected after impressing during pre-season matches while batter Lwando Tywaku is a late replacement for Aviwe Mgijima who is in the final stages of his recovery from an Achilles injury and unfortunately will not make the trip to Potch.
Batter Jonathan Bird sustained a hamstring injury during a pre-season match and will likely miss the entire tournament.
Coach Nackerdien on his squad selection: “I’m really looking forward to this upcoming season and especially the T20 competition in Potchefstroom. I think we have selected a very good squad for the campaign, a nice blend of experienced and young players, which is very exciting.
“The players have worked extremely hard on their skills and conditioning these past four months. We were very fortunate with the weather in September where we were able to play 10 warm-up games including three T20 matches against the Rocks. The players are in a good space, and they just need to now build on this and back their preparation.
“Wayne Parnell will be missed this competition, but we are proud that he has been selected for the World Cup Squad and we wish him and the Proteas all the best for the tournament,” he concluded.
On the same day that the squad was announced, the Six Gun Grill WP Blitz revealed a new kit sponsor in BAS, who they welcome back to the WP ‘Blue’.
Sedgars Sport’s Yusuf Dockrat expressed his delight with their return to WP: “Sedgars Sport is proud to be the official kit sponsor of the Six Gun Grill WP Blitz. Sedgars Sport and WP share a vision to provide access and opportunity for all communities to partake in cricket as well as to constantly pursue excellence and the positive impact of cricket in society. We are excited to start this new journey together and look forward to a growing partnership. We wish the team all the best in the upcoming CSA T20 Challenge.”
WP CEO Michael Canterbury said this ahead of the team’s departure: “We are really looking forward to the start of the new season and we want to take the opportunity to wish Salieg, the management team and the players all the best for the tournament. The squad is an exciting blend of youth and experience which bodes well for this season and into the future.”
The squad face Western Cape rivals GbetsRocks in their opening fixture of the tournament on Tuesday 18 October at 18h00. All matches will be live on SuperSport.
SIX GUN GRILL WP BLITZ CSA T20 CHALLENGE SQUAD:
Tony De Zorzi (Captain), Kyle Verreynne (Vice-Captain), Abdallah Bayoumy, Beuran Hendricks, Dane Paterson, Daniel Smith, Ethan Cunningham, Gavin Kaplan, George Linde, Junaid Dawood, Kyle Simmonds, Lwando Tywaku, Mihlali Mpongwana, Nandre Burger, Tshepo Moreki