Cape Town – Division 1 of the Cricket South Africa T20 Challenge begins on Monday in Potchefstroom. This week, Zaahier Adams will be keeping a careful check on five young players, including Dewald Brevis.
1. Michael Boast (Titans)
Since last year’s Under-19 World Cup in the Caribbean, the all-rounder has made tremendous strides under the guidance of coach Shukri Conrad. He dominated last weekend’s CSA Division 2 T20 Challenge, in which he played a pivotal part in the South Africa Under-19s’ victory. The former St Charles student was the tournament’s second-highest wicket-taker (nine wickets at 14.60 with an economy of 6.6) and the tournament’s second-highest run-scorer (second-highest total of runs scored) (141 runs at an average of 28.20 and strike-rate of 180).
2. Liam Alder (Lions)
The King Edward VII High School Matric student demonstrates maturity well above his years. The left-arm spinner has not been hesitant to bowl in difficult situations and has generally prevailed, such as when he finished as the leading wicket-taker in the CSA Division 2 T20 Challenge for the SA U19s with 11 wickets at an average of 9.40 and an economy rate of 5.50.
3. Khwezi Gumede (Rocks)
Despite being only 23 years old, the left-arm seamer has traveled extensively. Gumede, a former member of KwaZulu-youth Natal’s organizations, moved to the South African capital and played a few games for the Titans. Gumede, however, is now prepared to commence his professional career under JP Duminy with the Paarl Rocks.
4. Abdallah Bayoumy (WP)
The previous ten months have been an utter whirlwind for the adolescent from Cape Town. Bayoumy did not initially make the cut for the Western Province U18 Khaya Majola team, despite the fact that Province’s youth team was already under-strength due to a number of players representing the South African U19s at the World Cup. Due to the late withdrawal of Covid-19, Bayoumy was drafted onto the team. Since then, the hard-hitting all-rounder has not looked back, converting his opportunity with tremendous performances that led to his selection for the South Africa Colts and then the South Africa U19s. His talent is immense, and he will now advance to the WP’s senior squad.
5. Andile Simelane (Dolphins)
There are high hopes for the 19-year-old all-arounder. Simelane is another intriguing talent to come from South Africa’s U19 World Cup squad from the previous year. In the match against Sri Lanka, the stout and athletic Simelane made probably the catch of the tournament at second slip. Simelane is a prime example of the success of the CSA’s development program, having progressed from Mini-Cricket to Hub systems to senior provincial cricket.
@ZaahierAdams