New faces as the SA A squads give a nod to the future

The South Africa A side will take on Sri Lanka A in three one-day matches and two four-day matches between 31 August and 18 September. 

The one-day series will take place entirely at the JB Marks Oval in Potchefstroom, while the four-day matches will take place at Kimberley and Benoni.

With Cricket South Africa looking to build towards the home World Cup in 2027, and addressing the concerns regarding how the demographic of the country was represented at the recently concluded T20 World Cup, new faces have entered the fray.

Among those new faces are youngsters Andile Simelane and Tristan Luus.

Both previously represented the South Africa U19s at the Under-19 World Cup, the former in 2022 and the latter in January this year. 

The 21-year-old Simelane who plays for the Hollywoodbets Dolphins, can be considered a true all-rounder.

While his stats might not be impressive in his short professional career thus far, he has shown enough promise to warrant the investment in his future. 

He made a destructive 110 off only 72 balls, including nine fours and six sixes, against the Mpumalanga Rhinos as part of the SA Emerging side in the Division Two CSA One-Day Cup.

He bowls medium-fast and gets the ball to move back into the right handers.

He is also an outstanding fielder, which makes him a valuable asset. 

It is no surprise that he was picked as a Rookie for the Sunrisers Eastern Cape for season two of the SA20 and has been retained on a full contract ahead of season three.

FASTEST 19-YEAR OLD BOWLER IN SA

Tristan Luus is the fastest 19-year-old bowler in the country. He has the ability to clock 140kph consistently.

He was a late injury replacement for the 2024 Under-19 World Cup after making the SA Schools side based on standout performances in the 2023 Khaya Majola Week.

Luus took seven wickets in his five U19 World Cup matches at an economy rate of 4.15. 

While he still has a lot of work to do on his consistency with the ball, he has the raw ingredients to make life very tough for batters.

He is also a more than handy lower-order batter, which always helps to balance a side. 

Luus has joined Simelane at the Dolphins on a High-Performance Contract for the 2024/25 domestic season.

MORE NEW ADDITIONS

Other new additions in the one-day squad include Andile Mokgakane of include Andile Mokgakane of the Dafabet Warriors, Codi Yusuf of the DP World Lions, Dayaan Galiem of the Momentum Multiply Titans and Eathan Bosch of the Dolphins. 

Similar to Simelane, Mokgakane doesn’t have the career stats that might instantly grab the headlines.

However, he is a remarkably clean striker of the ball, as illustrated by his 77 off 45 balls for the Warriors against the Dolphins in the semifinal of the CSA T20 Challenge in April.

He was also impressive for the SA Invitational XI who played against the Proteas as they prepared for the T20 World Cup this year.

Yusuf, Galiem and Bosch have been rewarded for consistent performances domestically and will get to test themselves at the next level.

David Bedingham will also get a taste for the one-day format in green clothing as he looks to break into the Proteas ODI side after a confident start to his international career.

The one-day side will be led by Kyle Verreynne who could count himself unlucky not to still be part of the Proteas ODI side after a solid start where he averaged 41.22 with four half-centuries in his ten innings.

The four-day side will be led by Neil Brand who captained the Proteas in the test series against New Zealand in January when the first-choice players weren’t available for selection. 

He will be joined by Marques Ackermann who has been an exceptional performer in First-Class cricket for the Dolphins for a number of years.

He was the leading run-scorer in the CSA 4-Day series in the 2023/24 season with 571 runs at an average of 51.90. 

The standout feature of his game is the tempo at which he bats.

His First-Class career strike rate is a healthy 76.87 which is inline with the positive brand of cricket that the national team wants to adopt.

Rivaldo Moonsamy and Tshepang Dithole both scored more than 450 runs in the last CSA 4-Day series and have duly been rewarded with a call up.

While they have played contrasting roles for their domestic sides, with Dithole opening and Moonsamy often saving the batting innings at the backend, both are wicketkeepers who have shown the ability to spend a long time at the crease.

It seems like a big focus has been placed on the all-rounder role which has been a problem area for the national team.

The likes of Patrick Kruger and Beyers Swanepoel of the Warriors, Migael Pretorius of the Auto Investments Dragons and Mihlali Mpongwana of the World Sports Betting Western Province will look to prove that they can bring all-round value to the SA A team.

BREVIS LOOKING TO MAKE HIS MARK

There is one other name that has featured a lot when talking about the future of cricket in the country, and that name is Dewald Brevis.

He has been included in both squads for the SA A series and will look to make his mark after a year of sporadic opportunities in T20 leagues across the world.

Brevis is a lot more than just a T20 basher. He made 447 runs in seven matches in the last CSA 4-Day series at an average of 40.63 with two fifties and two centuries.

He also made 372 runs in seven matches in the CSA One-Day Cup at an average of 53.14, a strike rate of 97.89, two centuries and one fifty.

It has been two and a half years since his record breaking exploits at the 2022 U19 World Cup and his fanbase would love nothing more than for him to force his way into the Proteas side on a permanent bases by putting in big performances for the SA A team.

There is always excitement in the air when new players get opportunities and domestic form is rewarded.

The series against Sri Lanka A should provide a good indicator of who might be next in line for a Proteas call-up, and who we might see come 2027 when the cricket world turns its attention fully on South Africa.