Western Province’s first match of the 2023-24 4-Day Domestic Series will be against the Lions at Newlands in Cape Town this week.
Western Province, who are the reigning One-Day Cup champions, ended last season’s 4-Day Domestic Series in fifth position with two wins in seven fixtures.
“We’ve got to right a few wrongs from last summer. And that’s what’s going to fuel us going into this competition,” said Western Province bowling coach Rory Kleinveldt.
“But we don’t really focus too much on the opposition. For us, it’s about executing our style of play and how we want to go about things. And if the opposition can live with that or not, it’s all in their court, really. We’re more focused on how we want to do things.
“I think once we get over the rope on Saturday, we’ll look to play our brand of cricket. We did quite nicely last year, so with the brand we’re playing now it’s just a continuation into this format.
“We won’t change much in terms of mindset and how we want to play the game. I’m sure that the guys want to maintain the momentum we’ve built throughout the season. I think for us, being tough to beat is going to be crucial for the rest of the summer.
“Believing in ourselves and believing that we can win games from any situation – that sort of belief is creeping into the team at the moment.”
Former Proteas coach Russell Domingo became the Lions’ coach recently. He succeeded former Lions coach Wandile Gwavu, who has joined the Proteas’ coaching staff.
“We are confident and we’ve prepared well for what we know is going to be a tough one against Western Province, although Newlands is a great place to play,” said Domingo.
‘There has definitely been big progress in our batting. We also have a group of bowlers who are really disciplined and can squeeze the opposition. It’s a skilled attack for four-day cricket, probably more so than for the white-ball game, and I’m very confident we can take 20 wickets.”