SA under-19s provide hope for the future

MORE than the raw talent that the South African under-19 side has, it was the intent that they played with which was very pleasing.

They lost to the Eastern Storm, the Division Two side that plays out of Benoni, but the junior Proteas provided sufficient evidence on Friday, that the talent coming through in South Africa is of a very high calibre.

Ostensibly, by including the side in the T20 Provincial Knock Out competition, Cricket SA is looking to give them some match time, which has been limited in the past 12 months because of Covid-19, and getting the preparation for the under-19 World Cup, that will take place in the Caribbean next year, started.

What the side, captained by George van Heerden, who went to school at Grey High in Gqeberha, showed was – in a South African context – almost revolutionary attacking intent.

“This is the philosophy we’ve worked on as a team, to play with an aggressive mindset, with great intent, and to put the bowlers under pressure,” said Dewald Brevis, who top scored with 46 off only 25 balls, in the SA under-19 side’s total of 172/8.

Brevis certainly showed what all the fuss around him is about, with a thrilling innings that illustrated why comparisons have been made with another former Affies pupil, who also donned the No.17 shirt for the Proteas.

Like his hero AB de Villiers, Brevis put on a show; there was a crisply timed square drive, a delicious lofted drive for six over extra cover, and a slog sweep that crashed into the president’s suite at the Mangaung Oval, that ended with Brevis on one knee, his bat horizontal with the ground.

If you’d super-imposed an image of the other guy who once wore No.17 on his shirt over that image, you wouldn’t have been able to tell them apart.

The rest of the batting unit show the same level of aggression. They reached 50 faster than any other team has managed hitherto in the competition, which is a positive sign, and something that the coach Shukri Conrad will hope they can repeat in the remaining Pool matches against the KwaZulu-Natal Dolphins and the North West Dragons.

Even in the field, Van Heerden showed positivity, keeping more fielders in the inner-ring than was needed once the power play ended. He was perhaps too aggressive later on, as the Eastern Storm batsmen dominated, but that mindset will serve him well, as he learns to balance offence and defence.

“These matches help us to prepare for the World Cup, and we’ll keep working on this aggressive brand that we’re trying to play,” Brevis added.

The Storm easily reached the target, with 12 balls to spare, but that was more down to a lack of variety with the ball, particularly a seam bowling option.

In the earlier Pool match on Friday, the Dolphins trounced the Dragons by eight wickets, thanks to a career-best T20 performance, with the ball from Ottniel Baartman, who claimed 4/20 and a ninth T20 half-century from Sarel Erwee, who scored 68.

The SA under-19s face the Dragons in Saturday’s first match, at 10am, with the Storm and the Dolphins meeting at 2.30pm.