The Nameless T20 Tournament's Possible Uncapped picks.

My TOP 10 LIST OF UNCAPPED BATTERS (Part 2)

The Indian Premier League has played a vital role in the growth and strengthening of Indian cricket. It has played a massive role in the widening of the talent pool, and this is one of reasons it is so highly rated. One would have hoped that, since the nameless league is taking the shape of the IPL, South African cricket would also stand to benefit like Indian cricket. However, it does seem like things will not be like that. South African cricket will benefit from being a South African branch of the IPL but only or rather just mostly financially. It is alleged that the only quota that will be applicable in the SA version of the IPL is the foreigner quota and not newcomer quotas.

The Indian IPL has a rookie quota which has contributed immensely to the awarding of rookies opportunities to play and be around some quality experienced cricketers. According to reports, the SA IPL will not have a rookie quota, and this particularly tends to worry me a bit. One will just have to hope that we will see South African youngsters getting opportunities in numbers for the sake of widening and strengthening SA’s talent pool.

Yesterday we had a look at Part one of the Top 10 Uncapped batters that would be good signings. Today we look at part 2, the last half of the top 10.

6.       Jonathan Bird.

SA U19 player of the year 2020, Jonathan Andrew Bird made his youth cricket entrance with a bang when he helped SA U19 win the Youth ODI series after being outplayed in the Youth test series by England. The 21-year-old is a naturally aggressive opening batter. He smashes anything in his zone. There is nothing much to read from the left-handed batter’s young T20 stats but his 77 runs at 132.75 strike tells a little bit about what Jono can do. Jono also offers a bit of Chinaman bowling.

7. Sibonelo Makhanya

The 26-year-old, right-handed middle order batter has come off age and that has seen him get nominated for one of the CSA awards for Division 1. The former SA U19 player, Sibz as known to many, scored 123 runs for Paarl rocks in the MSL at a strike rate of 128.01. He had a strike rate just below 159 in the T20 KO tournament. Sibz’ 63* off 47 against a quality Jozi Stars bowling attack is only a highlight of what Sibz can do with the bat.

8.       Shane Dadswell

490 runs off 151 in a premier league match in 2017, 98 not out off 34 on T20 debut in the then Africa Cup in 2018 and an overall strike rate of 152 in T20 cricket. 24 years old, Shane Dadswell must have been born with eyes that see a beach ball instead of a cricket ball. His big hitting abilities would be valuable for any side.

9.       Eben Botha

41 off 17 with 6 4s and 2 6s at a strike rate of 241.17 on debut against the Dolphins in the CSA Provincial T20 Cup, the 23-year-old left-handed batter really introduced himself in style. Eben has not played much T20 cricket but in the matches that he has played, he has made sure to leave a lasting impression not only on those watching but on opposition too. He has whooping strike rate of 161 in T20. The fearless opening batter would definitely strengthen any side.

10.Grant Roelofsen

Probably one of the most underrated players in South African cricket across all 3 formats. 3 innings, 134 runs at just under 172 strike rate in the CSA KO tournament. Wicket keeper-batter, Grant is a more than capable batter in this format and would be a valuable pick for any side. Not a name spoken about a lot in SA cricket circles but very talented.

It will be interesting to see which of these batters get picked up. South Africa has a lot of talent already so the auction should be fun to watch.