Johannesburg, Dec 8 (IANS): Cricket South Africa (CSA) has announced that batter David Teeger will be captaining South Africa’s 15-player squad set to feature in the upcoming 2024 U19 Men’s Cricket World Cup to be held in the country across January and February.
Teeger had recently gone through an internal independent enquiry from CSA and was cleared of any wrongdoing over the statements he made after getting the “Rising Star Award” at the Jewish Achiever Awards.
Last month, after receiving the award, Teeger had praised young Israeli soldiers, which led to a complaint made by the Palestine Solidarity Alliance. As of now, Teeger will be aiming to lead South Africa to their first Men’s U19 World Cup title since 2014. Other prominent squad members include Kwena Maphaka, Lhuan-dre Pretorius, Richard Seletswane and Dewan Marias.
“I extend my congratulations to each player who has secured a spot in the World Cup squad; their inclusion is well-deserved. This group of young cricketers has demonstrated exceptional abilities and potential. We have full confidence in their capabilities and are excited to see them compete at the highest level, especially with the added pride of playing in front of a home crowd.”
“We had initially selected three spinners in the provisional 18-player squad in anticipation of the sub-continent conditions in Sri Lanka. But with the tournament now taking in South Africa and the change in conditions, we have named two specialist spinners and extra cover within our fast bowling group. And I would like to wish the players and the support staff well for the tournament and anticipate an exciting World Cup campaign,” said Patrick Moroney, SA U19s Convenor of Selectors.
Hosts South Africa are pooled with England, Scotland and the West Indies in Group B. As part of their preparations, the squad will travel to Durban today for a week-long camp where they will play two practice matches against the Zimbabwe U19 side on December 9 and 11 at the Chatsworth Oval in Pietermaritzburg. These matches will be followed by a practice match against KwaZulu-Natal U19s on December 13 at the same venue.
"After months of hard work, we are pleased to see such a well-rounded squad that will represent South Africa at the World Cup. The quality of this group shows the amount of work that is going on behind the scenes through the CSA pipeline and I have no doubt they will do us proud next year," said Enoch Nkwe, CSA Director of Cricket.
South Africa U19 squad: David Teeger (captain), Esosa Aihevba, Juan James, Martin Khumalo, Kwena Maphaka, Dewan Marias, Riley Norton, Nqobani Mokoena, Romashan Pillay, Sipho Potsane, Lhuan-dre Pretorius, Richard Seletswane, Oliver Whitehead, Steve Stolk and Ntando Zuma.
Support Staff: Malibongwe Maketa (Head Coach), Blanche Conradie (Team Manager), Thabang Kumalo (Fielding Coach), Justin Sammons (Batting Coach), Paul Adams (Bowling Coach), Curtly Diesel (Strength and Conditioning Coach), Salih Solomon (Team Doctor), Sheenagh Jordaan (Physiotherapist) and Kyle Southgate (Performance Analyst).