Western Province cricketers Mihlali Mpongwana and Jonathan Bird have been invited to Cricket South Africa’s spin-bowling and batting camp.
Mpongwana, Bird and 21 others will work alongside coaches Neil McKenzie, Shukri Conrad, Malibongwe Maketa, Paul Adams and Mthandeki Tshabalala at the camp, which will be hosted in Durban in late July 2022.
2022 CSA spin-bowling and batting camp
Batsmen
- Mihlali Mpongwana (Western Province)
- Andile Simelane (Dolphins)
- Valentine Kitime (Boland)
- Sinethemba Qeshile (Warriors)
- Patrick Kruger (Knights)
- Jonathan Bird (Western Province)
- Raynard van Tonder (Knights)
- Joshua Richards (Lions)
- Jordan Hermann (Warriors)
- Jiveshan Pillay ( Titans)
- Ruan De Swart (Dolphins)
- Levert Manje (Lions)
Spinners
- Bryce Parsons (Dolphins)
- Tumelo Tlhokwe (North West)
- Tshepo Ntuli (Northern Cape)
- Odirile Modimokoane (Dolphins)
- Prenelan Subrayen (Dolphins)
- Jason Raubenheimer (Knights)
- Caleb Seleka (Dragons)
- Tsepo Ndwandwa (Warriors)
- Smangaliso Nhlebela (Titans)
- Bjorn Fortuin (Lions),
- Kurt Mannikam (KwaZulu-Natal Inland)
Coaches
- Neil McKenzie
- Shukri Conrad
- Malibongwe Maketa
- Paul Adams
- Mthandeki Tshabalala
“The annual spin camp, which is part of CSA’s objectives to build a stronger cricket pipeline, usually takes place in India and aims to introduce most of the youngsters to international spin play,” read a statement from CSA.
“CSA, in conjunction with provincial coaches around the country, selected a group of promising young players in the system to participate in the camp.
“Experienced senior players were also called up to provide an eye-opening experience for all players. The camp also forms part of the high-performance’s talent identification programme.
“Players that have come through the SA Under-19 system are called up in order to promote and accelerate their learnings, in a bid to grow the game from the grassroots.”
What CSA high performance manager Vincent Barnes said
“The camp will be a wonderful opportunity for our identified young cricketers to enhance their batting and spin bowling skills,” said Barnes.
“We have called up our experienced spinners to make for a well-balanced team. I believe that this camp will prove highly beneficial to everyone involved.”
What Maketa said
“One of the negative effects of Covid-19 was that for the past three years, our teams could not travel to the India, where spin is more favourable,” said Maketa.
“Seeing that we play so much cricket on the sub-continent, it is very crucial that we expose our spinners to the subcontinent conditions.
“It was important for us not to get left behind with our spin play, hence we’ve come to Durban. We have ensured that we tailormade the wickets to suit spin and challenge our players.
“Experienced coaches will be assisting them in not only technically playing spin, but also having the strategy to deal with a spinning ball.”
What McKenzie said
“CSA has identified the opportunity to get our players to play spin better. The earlier we can get our players to understand what they need to do when playing and/or against spin, the better it is for us to understand and nurture the talent for the future of our national teams,” said McKenzie.
“With most of our senior spinners away in England, this provides an opportunity for more players to come in and get exposed to our spin play and methods.
“A lot of information is being shared with experienced coaches, and the combination of young and experienced talent. At times, one learns more off senior players more than coaches.
“We believe this will provide the players with confidence to thrive and apply pressure when playing against spin; the spinners getting better with their game and batters dealing with spin conditions.”