The Nameless T20 Tournament's Possible Uncapped picks.

My TOP 10 LIST OF UNCAPPED BATTERS (P1)

Over the last couple of years, there has always been drama surrounding almost everything CSA does and South African cricket in general. The T20 league has not been much different but things have since changed. A lot of South African cricket fans and supporters went crazy when it was announced that CSA would forfeit the Proteas’ ODI series against Australia because it would clash with the T20 tournament. However, things became calmer once CSA CEO explained the implications of their decision and how they hope and or believe it would help South African cricket. Following South African cricket and CSA has become synonymous of watching a reality show, sometimes the drama never makes sense and sometimes well, the drama is just unnecessary and could possibly be avoided. However, moving on from the drama and all, the T20 tournament that is yet to be named will provide a lot of SA players an opportunity to display what they can do to the world and to IPL owners. This will be the best opportunity for people to see that whoever believes that South Africa lacks talent is clueless.

I am not much of a T20 fan and or follower, but I am huge on South African talent so whenever it is on show, I tend to watch or follow. As build up to the yet to be named T20 league, I will be picking a few uncapped players I think will be good signings in the league. I will start my top 10 batters then follow up with the top 10 Allrounders and Bowlers.

We can have debates and arguments around the standard or quality of our domestic cricket but when it comes to talent, there should never be a debate. South Africa produces a lot of talent year in and year out. We can also have discussions about how we can better manage the talent but that is a topic for another day.

My TOP 10 LIST OF UNCAPPED BATTERS (P1)

This list will not necessarily be focusing only on numbers but will also be considering talent and potential. Some of the players may not even have great numbers yet but have the talent and potential to do well. Not every player that will be signed up with be a finished product. I do hope that most of these players at least get contracts even if they do not play a lot of matches. It will be good for South African cricket. I will mainly be looking at strike mostly as I believe, in this format, one’s strike rate is more important than their average.

NB The list is in no particular order.

1. Donovan Ferreira

Arguably one of the most aggressive batters in South African cricket in the last 2/3 years or so. Donovan Ferreira had a really good CSA T20 tournament for the Titans, scoring 166 runs in 6 innings at 136.06 in a tournament where most batters scored at strike less than 120. This came after his performance in the Knockout tournament where he scored 152 runs in 5 innings at 153.53 strike rate. Donovan is one of few players that really bring the power to “POWER HITTING.” I was lucky enough to have been at the field when he smashed 157 off just 77 against UJ during a USSA match on the 08th of December 2021. However, my only mistake was allowing fatigue to shut my eyes for a few seconds after he had walked in only to open my eyes again when he was 90. Wait, what? Don is on 90 already? That is how quickly he scores his runs. A hard-hitting utility player that can keep wickets and bowl some tidy overs of Off Spin, Donovan Ferreira has made a name for himself as a finisher in South African cricket and is a signing I would definitely be looking to make as a coach in T20 cricket.

2. Wesley Marshall

Another batter who, much like Donovan, brings the POWER to Power hitting but unlike Donovan, Wesley bats higher up the order. Wesley has the ability to take the game away from opposition with his big hitting and is someone any T20 side would benefit from having. 130 runs in 5 innings at a strike of 162.50 in the Knockout challenge,150 runs in 7 innings at 145.63 strike rate and an overall Career strike rate of 147.4 is vindictive of Wesley’s power hitting prowess.

3.Tony de Zorzi

 Former SA U19 talented, classy lefthanded opener, Tony has not necessarily had a great T20 career so far but has shown glimpses of what he can do with the bat every now and then. Tony did not have a great tournament in the T20 KO tournament but played better in the T20 challenge where he was one of a handful of batters to successfully score runs at a strike rate that is over 125. Featured in the MSL but did not have much success for the Tshwane Spartans. However, the 24-year-old had an impressive tournament with the Titans in the 2018/19 season of the Abu Dhabi T20 tournament. His best performance being a majestic yet brutal innings of 105 off 57 balls against a decent bowling attack that had Sri Lankan veteran, J Mendis and South African seamer, Kyle Abbott. Tony definitely has the talent and potential to succeed in T20 cricket.

4. Lesiba Ngoepe

One of my personal favourites. He is also one of few players I have been lucky enough to watch live in club cricket. I fell in love with how he goes about his business, how hard and cleanly he hits a cricket ball. A left hander who hits the ball hard and cleanly is always a joy to watch. Once watched Lesiba tear apart one of my Club’s bowlers in a mayoral cup. 2 sixes over long on and one over long off. All clean hits but his club cricket exploits are not really the reason I have picked him. Lesiba will probably come as a surprise to many because of his overall numbers but over the last couple of years, Lesiba has really come into his own and has put his clean hitting to clever use for the Warriors. 155 runs in 7 innings at a strike rate of 137.16 and his recent form in white ball cricket saw Lesiba get an SA A call up for the tour to Zimbabwe where he scored his maiden T20 ton (114 off 63) against a Zim Xi bowling attack that had just over 180 T20 International caps combined.

5. Matthew Breetzke

Arguably one of the most exciting talents in South African cricket. 23-year-old former SA U19 opening batter, Matthew Breetzke showed his talent and potential as early as Youth cricket where he won SA U19 Cricketer of the Year 2018 after scoring over 700 U19 runs at average just over 50. The exciting opening batter featured in the MSL for the NMB giants but did not have much impact. However, after being left out of the Warriors squad for the T20 tournament, Matthew returned with a bang in the CSA provincial T20 KO tournament where he finished as the 2nd leading run scorer after Rilee Rossouw. 190 runs in 4 innings at a strike rate of 162.39 in the Knockout tournament, Matt definitely showed what he is capable of. With the bat in hand. He is also one of few utility players currently in SA cricket. He can bat, keep, and bowl a bit when needed. Coming up the ranks of youth cricket in Gqeberha, Matthew is one of those batters who have been believed to be almost as exciting as a young AB De Villiers on their day.

The next half of the list will follow shortly. These are some of the country’s talented batters and most of them are still in their early 20s which is something that is good for South African cricket. They will all be crucial in the growth and strength of South African cricket.