De Bruyn back to boost Titans
ONE IN, ONE OUT: SIBOTO QUITS FRANCHISE TO JOIN LIONS
Faul eyes Cobras’ Tshepo Moreki as his replacement.
The current impasse in negotiations between Cricket South Africa and the South African Cricketers’ Association has made the contracting process difficult for the franchises, but the Titans have all but wrapped up their squad for the 2018/19 season, with the return of Knights captain Theunis de Bruyn, the highly-promising Proteas batsman, the highlight of their deliberations.
According to Titans CEO Jacques Faul, the final documentation just needs to be completed, but the return of De Bruyn, the University of Pretoria product who first made his name with the northern Gauteng franchise, has been confirmed.
The tremendous batsmanship of De Bruyn will more than make up for the loss of stalwart bowler and useful lower-order batsman Malusi Siboto, who is joining the Highveld Lions.
“The coach, Mark Boucher, has an amazing relationship with the players so we’ve lost just the one player and Theunis is coming back,” Faul said yesterday after a celebratory breakfast in honour of the two trophies the Titans clinched for the third season in a row.
“Malusi is going to the Lions, which is a sad loss because he offered a lot to our team and was a big part of our success. He’s been a great servant of the Titans and we only have good things to say about him, we wish him the best of luck. We are busy negotiating for the services of Tshepo Moreki from the Cobras to replace him.”
The 25-year-old De Bruyn was top of the Knights averages in last season’s Sunfoil Series, scoring 568 runs in eight innings, and was their leading run-scorer the previous season as well, with 751 runs at an average of 57.76, leading them to the four-day title.
Theoretically, it means the Titans could field – when Proteas commitments allow it – a fully international top-order comprising Aiden Markram, Dean Elgar, De Bruyn and Heinrich Klaasen.