The District Sixers’ inaugural Cape Premier League campaign has been hampered by injuries to trio Jono Bird and Givon Christian – and seamer Jordan Woolf.
Bird, Christian and Woolf have been sidelined by respective hip, shoulder and side injuries.
Batsmen Bird and Christian have been ruled out of competitive cricket for up to two and four weeks, respectively.
The right-handed Christian was among the 2018-19 Western Province Cricket Association premier league’s top 20 run-scorers, while Bird struck a brisk century on List A debut against Easterns late last year.
The 19-year-old Bird was the second-most expensive purchase at January 2019’s Cape Premier League auction. He cost 700,000 CPL dollars – the fictional currency spent at January’s player auction.
The Sixers also acquired, among others, Victoria Cricket Club’s Isaac Dikgale, Claremont Cricket Club’s Leon Botha and Josh Breed, Edgemead Cricket Club’s Simon Blake, St Augustine Cricket Club’s Gavin Dickenson and Strandfontein Cricket Club’s Sulaiman Jaffar.
The Sixers’ opening fixture will be against the Dromedaris Dragons at Newlands on Thursday, 4 April. Milnerton Cricket Club’s Matthew Kleinveldt will lead the XI.
Western Province Cricket Club’s Kyle Schreuder has been confirmed captain of the Dragons. Rondebosch Cricket Club seamer Myolisi Fumba, meanwhile, has replaced Victoria Cricket Club and Cape Cobras veteran Rory Kleinveldt in the Dragons’ squad.