Despite stumps being called early on the 2019-20 season due to the Covid-19 pandemic, plans are already being put in place for the upcoming season at the Mangaung Oval.
The Knights will go into the new season with a new look and an enormous amount of experience from the coaching staff to the players. Former Northern Cape senior provincial coach JP Triegaardt finds himself back in the Knights changing room under ICC Hall of Famer and new coach Allan Donald as the newly appointed Knights assistant coach.
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‘It is a great honour and achievement to be part of the Knights for this upcoming season. I am honoured to be working alongside Allan Donald. I look forward to tapping into his brain and find out what expertise he has to bring to the party. I also look forward to gain as much experience and knowledge as I can from the SA legend,’ commented Triegaardt.
‘I think the guys we kept have done well this past season and we are lucky to have kept the core of the team; with the new guys coming in, for example, a guy like Jonathan Vandiar who has an exceptional reputation in both white- and red-ball cricket to come and fill the gap left by Keegan Petersen will be something special to watch. The same goes for Matthew Kleinveldt, he brings a lot of stability in the top order and Jacques Snyman has also shown us how destructive he can be at the top of the order.’
The Knights secured a semi-final spot in last season’s limited-overs campaign and ended fourth in the 4-Day Franchise series before the premature end to the season and are looking to better those standings in the new season with the addition of Jonathan Vandiar, Mathew Kleinveldt, Jacques Snyman, Ferisco Adams, Alfred Mothoa, Migael Pretorius and youngster Duan Jansen.
‘In the bowling department I believe Alfred and Migael bring a lot of experience and consistency to the team, we have seen what they have done in the past with the Titans and Lions, respectively, with Migael’s pace being a major addition to our arsenal and Ferisco Adams who is an exciting all-rounder whom I’m looking forward to seeing what he can do with both bat and ball,’ added Triegaardt.
‘I think, the team Allan and myself have put together is really good and competitive, but for now we just have to sit and wait until this pandemic is over but if we can get the guys together post the pandemic just to see if everyone is mentally strong and prepared for the upcoming season then surely we will find ourselves ahead of the pack.’
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