Durbanville Cricket Club will be without opening batsman Pieter Malan for 27 April’s Super Cup fixture against the winners of the 2018 National Club Championship.
Malan has been sidelined by wrist surgery – and will not travel with the 12-man squad to Pretoria for the one-off fixture at the Tuks Cricket Oval.
The Cape Cobras star was the leading run-scorer in this season’s Momentum One Day Cup and third highest in the Sunfoil Series. He, too, played for South Africa A against the touring Australians.
“Club cricket is extremely under-rated at the moment. People don’t give it the respect and attention it needs and deserves. It’s good for first-class cricketers to experience different bowlers in different conditions. Sometimes club cricket is a fair bit harder than provincial or franchise cricket because you are playing on tough pitches and slow outfields – and guys are coming at you verbally from all across the field,” Malan told SA Cricket magazine recently.
“Club cricket brings you back to the basics of the game and really grounds you. A lot of guys who perform consistently well appreciate their step up to the higher levels more and perform better because they’ve taken the harder road.
“I have a lot of respect for guys who do it that way. I play club cricket for Durbanville Cricket Club as often as I can. I feel it’s very important to give back to the club and allow the club to act as a feeder system into the first-class ranks, like it should be.”
Durbanville qualified for the Super Cup by winning the Multiply T20 Community Cup in December 2017. Their opposition, come 27 April, will be Yorkshire Cricket Club, North-West University Cricket Club (Pukke), Wellington Cricket Club, University of Pretoria Cricket Club, University of Fort Hare Cricket Club or Crusaders Cricket Club.
Durbanville Cricket Club Super Cup squad: Kuda Samundera (captain), Byron Boshoff, Brad Barnes, Jean Marais, Jean Strydom, Jaco Castle, Leon le Roux, Dale Campbell, Nathan Swartz, Tashwin Lukas, Brandon Viret, Bob Homani.