The players who played in the Emerging Tri-Series in August will be prepared for the 2016 Africa T20 Cup.

Andrew Wylie, who’s USSA XI won the competition when they beat South Africa’s Emerging team in the final, believes that the series was ideal preparation for the Africa T20 Cup competition set to start later this week.

The likes of Wihan Lubbe, Jason Smith, Lungi Ngidi, Leus du Plooy, Yasser Cook, Lizaad Williams, Zubayr Hamza, Ndumiso Mvelase, Bjorn Fortuin and Marques Ackerman all featured in the series impressing throughout the tournament for their respective sides.

‘I think these youngsters will really get a kick-start heading into competitions like the Africa Cup,’ Wylie, said. ‘It’s been a very good tournament.’

The Stellenbosch Cricket Club coach also praised the CSA competition, saying it will give them a head-start going into the new season.

‘It’s a great tournament and good opportunity for young cricketers to come in and get a head-start going into the season,’ he explained. ‘I think the fact that we played in great conditions on good wickets, this early in the year and before the season gets going was fantastic.

‘So it was a wonderful opportunity and the standard of cricket was great.

‘It’s a really good measure of where these boys are in their careers. Many of them are very young and the average age of our squad I think was 20.7, so it was a young squad with players at various paths of their career.

‘Some are knocking at franchise doors, others are trying to get in at semi-pro level, so this is an opportunity to really get their names out there and get some publicity and exposure they often deserve.’

The Africa Cup begins on September 2 in Pietermaritzburg.