South Africa U19 will take on Division 2 provincial teams in the CSA T20 Knock Out.
The competition will take place from 30 September to 10 October.
SA U19 are in Pool A with the KZN Tuskers, Eastern Storm and Mpumalanga Rhinos.
The youngsters will meet the Storm in the opening match of the competition on Friday.
Shukri Conrad’s team has concluded a five-day camp at CSA’s High-Performance Centre in Pretoria, which focused on fitness and skills training. They also played two warm-up matches against Tuks.
Captain George van Heerden, Aphiwe Mnyanda, Liam Alder, Kwena Maphaka and Matthew Boast played for SA U19 in last year’s T20 tournament.
“The team is highly motivated and ready to take on the challenge of playing against professional teams, despite minor challenges in our preparations as school engagements are of utmost importance,” said Conrad.
“We played in the competition last year which was an eye opener for the team. And to reiterate my sentiments from last year, we are not here just to make up the numbers, we want to compete well and win to aid in the development of these young men.
“We have some experienced members in the team as part of the development process in addition to the youngsters coming into the set-up for the first time. All we want in this competition is for the boys to be ultra-competitive and remain true to themselves and our playing philosophy.”
Van Heerden said: “We have a nice combination of players, and everyone is very excited, with all the preparation we’ve gone through.
“You can expect us to be competitive. We’ve learned a great deal from last year’s mistakes and taking the positives forward as this will allow us to take calculated risks.
“The opportunity to play against professional cricketers is an awesome opportunity to measure yourself. Some of us have experienced that but it will be more crucial that we all take it in as we play against some of the best in the country.”
SA U19 squad: George van Heerden (c, Boland), Liam Alder (Lions), Matthew Boast (Titans), Abdullah Bayoumy (Western Province), Schalk Engelbrecht (Titans), Thebe Gazedi (Lions), Ronan Hermann (Lions), Juan James (Western Province), Kwena Maphaka (Lions), Dewan Marais (Easterns), Aphiwe Mnyanda (Eastern Province), Meeka-eel Prince (Western Province), Richard Seletswane (Lions), David Teeger (Lions), Liyema Waqu (Western Province).
Management: Shukri Conrad (head coach), Blanche Conradie (manager), Thabang Kumalo (assistant coach), Esther Bhengu (physio), Kyle Southgate (analyst), Curtly Diesel (fitness trainer), Kruger van Wyk (fielding coach).
