Badgers ready for opener
The Six Gun Grill Garden Route Badgers will kick-off their campaign for the 2023/24 season when they host the ITEC Knights at the Recreation Ground in Oudtshoorn on Saturday 16 September in a Division 2 Cricket South Africa One Day Cup fixture.
The Badgers are the defending champions in this competition and the clash against the Knights, who have been relegated from Division 1 at the end of last season will be a mouth-watering battle.
The Badgers, under the new coach, Gurshwin Rabie, will only be happy with a victory, and an epic battle is expected. The Badgers had good preparation in a series of friendly fixtures against the Western Province Blitz, the Paarl Rocks and the Warriors last week and showed some positive signs of a team that can have a successful season.
Jean du Plessis was one of the outstanding players with the bat in the pre-season campaign and he will captain the Oudtshoorn-based team. New signings like Thomas Kaber, Kelly Smuts and Khwezi Gumede will bolster the local side who will again aim for promotion to Division 1 at the end of the season. Winning trophies will be paramount in their ambitions for higher honours.
Liabona Malife, Heath Richards and the 17-year-old Enathi Khitshini are all players who excelled during the warm-up matches and have been added to the squad. Unfortunately, Pheko Moletsane, who underwent surgery to his knee has been ruled out for the one-day campaign while Marcello Piedt, who is nursing a knee injury will be unavailable. Keenan Vieira is ill and will also not be considered.
The Knights will field experienced and key players like Gihan Cloete, Aubrey Swanepoel, Jacques Snyman and Patrick Botha and will be a difficult team to overcome. The Badgers’ coach, Rabie said that he and the squad is looking forward to this campaign. “We have a mixture of experience and youth and we are covering all our bases that are needed to be successful and to defend our title,” he concluded.
The Badgers squad for the weekend is:
Jean du Plessis (Captain), Blayde Capell, Matthew Christensen, Ruan Terblanche, Jhedli van Briesies, Hanno Kotze, Kelly Smuts, Heath Richards, Thomas Kaber, Herschelle America, Khwezi Gumede, Tyrece Karelse, Jarred Jardine, Sintu Majiza, Liabona Malife and Enathi Khitshini.