OBAKENG MELETSE
South Africa’s A-side will kick off the home summer when they welcome Sri Lanka ‘A’ in a tour that will include three ODIs and two four-day matches. The first one-day tour match is set to take place at the JB Marks Oval in Potchefstroom on Saturday.
Cricket South Africa named both sets of squads to take on The Lions’ A- side. Proteas batter Matthew Breetzke has been named the captain of the limited-overs side, replacing Western Province wicketkeeper-batter Kyle Verreynne, who was released from the squad to play in the County Championship for Nottinghamshire in England.
The 25-year-old Breetzke has been making inroads within the Proteas set-up in the different formats, with his latest call-up to the Test side not yielding game time but a lot of travelling experience in a series-winning tour to the West Indies earlier this month.
He will lead an exciting side that will feature two Proteas Test batters – David Bedingham and Tony de Zorzi – while Dewald Brevis will get another opportunity to show the selectors what they have been missing after he was left out of the ongoing T20 tour to the West Indies.
Codi Yusuf and Andile Simelane have also been rewarded for their consistent run in the domestic set-up and this could be an opportunity for them to throw their names into the hat with the 2027 World Cup getting closer.
Meanwhile, Neil Brand was named the captain of the four-day squad. The Titans batter took charge of the Proteas’ makeshift team earlier in the year in the absence of regular players who were taking part in the SA20 T20 competition.
Warriors all-rounder Patrick Kruger gets another chance to showcase his skills in a different format after his solid start to his T20 international career against the West Indies, while Migael Pretorius will hope for game time after he missed out in the recent Test series against the West Indies.
SA ‘A’ one-day squad: Matthew Breetzke (capt), David Bedingham, Eathan Bosch, Dewald Brevis, Tony de Zorzi, Dayyaan Galiem, Tristan Luus, Mihlali Mpongwana, Andile Mogakane, Senuran Muthusamy, Andile Phehlukwayo, Meeka-eel Prince, Andile Simelane, Lutho Sipamla, Codi Yusuf
SA ‘A’ four-day squad: Neil Brand (capt), Marques Ackerman, Matthew Breetzke, Dewald Brevis, Tshepang Dithole, Jean du Plessis, Patrick Kruger, Rivaldo Moonsamy, Mihlali Mpongwana, Migael Pretorius, Sinethemba Qeshile, Lutho Sipamla, Prenelan Subrayen, Beyers Swanepoel, Codi Yusuf