Head coach Mark Boucher is eager to see what value England fast bowler Tom Curran will add to the Tshwane Spartans’ 2019 Mzansi Super League campaign.

Curran has replaced England batsman Eoin Morgan as the Spartans’s international marquee player for the second edition of the MSL.

The 24-year-old Curran, who was born in South Africa, was part of England’s squad for the World Cup earlier this year. He did not play a match, though. He is currently part of Surrey’s T20 Blast campaign – and has also played for the Kolkata Knight Riders in the Indian Premier League and Sydney Sixers in Australia’s Big Bash League.

‘Tom has come from an environment in which England just won a World Cup, so that can only be good. He’s been in that side for a while. He’s been a performer at county level and for England,’ said Boucher.

‘I’m looking forward to great things from him over here. He brings a wealth of experience but he sounds like a nice team man as well.’

Former Proteas batsman Gary Kirsten will coach the Durban Heat in this year’s MSL. Boucher’s international career coincided with Kirsten’s between 1997 and 2003.

‘It’s always a pleasure being in Gary’s company, whether as a player with him, whether batting with him or whether he was my coach as was the case at the end of my career,’ he added.

‘It will be nice to have a coffee with him, check how things are going, catch up with his family. He’ll be excited to get involved in this league and I’m sure we’ll have some nice competitive chats while we play against each other, which is the way it should be. It’s a very good thing for South African cricket that he is involved in this competition.’

The Spartans finished in fifth position across the 2018 MSL’s six-team standings, after just four wins in 10 matches. The Jozi Stars won the title, after beating the Cape Town Blitz in the final.

Photo: Gallo Images