Liam Alder and Kwena Maphaka have been included in a 15-man South Africa U19 squad to tour Bangladesh for a five-match 50-over series from 3-18 July.
Both played for the Junior Proteas at the 2022 U19 World Cup. They are joined by Dewan Marais, Juan James, David Teegar and Richard Seletswane, who were part of the SA U19 team that won last season’s CSA T20 Knockout competition.
The squad announcement follows a four-day selection camp at the Centre of Excellence in Pretoria.
“Firstly, I would like to congratulate each of the players on their selection for the tour,” said SA U19 convenor of selectors Patrick Moroney. “It is through our Talent Acceleration Program [TAP] that these players have been identified, with most of them having competed in the Khaya Majola and Cubs Weeks last season.
“We’re excited by the quality of players emerging from our youth pipeline and we have identified a great blend of players for this tour to Bangladesh, with two of them bringing international experience after playing in last year’s U19 World Cup in the West Indies.
“While this tour will give us a good idea of the character of the players, it will also give the players an opportunity to put their skills to the test in similar playing conditions to those of next year’s World Cup in Sri Lanka.
“We recently had a change in management, with Malibongwe Maketa taking over from Shukri Conrad as head coach of the SA U19s, and the players have adapted extremely well to Mali and his coaching staff, and particularly enjoyed the selection camp this week.”
SA U19 squad: Liam Alder (Warriors), Esa Gangat (Eastern Province), Thebe Gazide (Lions), Bennie Hansen (Western Province), Juan James (Western Province), Tristan Luus (Titans), Kwena Maphaka (Lions), Dewan Marias (Easterns), Romashan Pillay (KZN Coastal), Sipho Potsane (Lions), Lhuan-dre Pretorius (Lions), Richard Seletswane (Lions), David Teeger (Lions), Johnathan van Zyl (KZN Inland), Oliver Whitehead (Western Province). Non-travelling reserves: Martin Khumalo (Easterns), Riley Norton (Boland), Ntando Zuma (KZN Inland).
