Western Province will be without spinner Kyle Simmonds for the remainder of the 2024-25 domestic season in South Africa.
Simmonds has been sidelined for up to six months after sustaining a knee injury during this season’s One-Day Cup.
All-rounder Juan James, who is recovering from a shoulder injury, has been ruled out of the remainder of this season. James has not played professional cricket this year.
Fast bowler Nandre Burger, who has a back injury, also won’t return until next season. Burger has not played professional cricket since South Africa’s ODI series against Afghanistan in September 2024.
Western Province recently beat the Titans in Centurion in the 4-Day Domestic Series. Their remaining 4-Day Domestic Series fixtures will be against Boland in Cape Town and North West in Potchefstroom.
“What lies in front of us is going to be a challenging task, and we’ve had some hard and good chats about the potential implications of getting relegated,” said Western Province head coach Salieg Nackeriden.
“That’s not where we want WP to be because we have a good and fantastic history, but we need to up our game and understand that this is going to be 12 days of cricket where we put our best foot forward.
“We don’t want to put promotion and relegation at the top of the list, but we want to play how we want to play and get the results at the top of the list.
“We did discuss implications of not having proper first-class cricket in Cape Town. There was a reaction and it’s not a case of hammering on the matter all the time, but it’s about addressing the reality of the situation. The budget for division two isn’t the same as division one and the guys understand that.”