KwaZulu-Natal Inland batsman Slade van Staden has been included in the United States of America’s Under-19 training group.
Van Staden was capped three times at first-class level by KZN Inland in 2020 – and has worked alongside former Proteas batsman and coach Dale Benkenstein.
“Slade is a coach’s dream. He knows exactly what he wants to do. He has a real hand-eye talent. He is able to manipulate the ball, pretty much, wherever he wants,” said Benkenstein.
“He is difficult to bowl to. He picks up length very quickly. He has a lot of real, natural talent. A ball others are going forward to, he is playing off the back foot and hitting for six.”
Van Staden and the rest of the camp will gather for a training and selection camp in California in mid-June.
It will span 10 days and be supported by American Cricket Enterprises and Major League Cricket.
“We were delighted to be able to support USA Cricket with what was an outstanding event at the Men’s Under-19 National Championships in Texas last month,” said Major League Cricket co-founder Sameer Mehta.
“It was very apparent that this is an impressive group of young players who will have strong claims in attempting to guide USA to qualify for the Under-19 World Cup in 2022.
“As a follow-up, we have been working closely with USA Cricket to help ensure that the Under 19 training group now gets the necessary preparation, exposure and opportunity to continue their personal and group development.
“To that end, we will be supporting all aspects of this camp, including organising the camp logistics and quality opposition for selection matches, providing access to the MLC facilities in the Bay Area and full support from our playing and coaching assets to help enhance the experience for the group.”