Cape Town - GBets Rocks coach Adrian Birrell believes his team have the spin arsenal to take advantage of the conditions in Kimberley in the upcoming Cricket SA provincial T20 knockout challenge Pool D play-offs starting on Monday.
The Rocks, who hail from the Boland region, are grouped with the Warriors (Eastern Province), Iinyathi (Border) and Impalas (Limpopo). Their opening game is against the Warriors at 10am.
The Winelands team are certainly well-stocked in the spinning department having recruited very well during the off-season. Former Titans and Knights leg-spinner Shaun Von Berg has relocated to Boland Park along with former Cape Cobras off-spinner Imraan Manack.
Local left-arm spinner Siyabonga Mahima, who claimed a hat-trick in the CSA T20 Challenge last season for the Cobras, is also an integral part of the Rocks squad.
“We are excited to be playing and I must add we are ready. Lots of hard work has been done over the past two months and I’m satisfied with the progress" Birrell said.
“It’s also a chance for the players to set the benchmark going into the season. We have a few talented young players we need to nurture.
"We have a number of experience players in the squad who will be added to the side but for this competition I’m satisfied that we enough player depth to deliver on a winning outcomes.
“We have been following the previous two rounds of the competition and have a sense of how the wicket will play. So we are hoping that wicket will turn and that we some good spinners to choose from,” added the former Proteas assistant coach.
The Rocks also have Proteas ODI batsman Janneman Malan within their ranks and the 25-year-old will certainly be wanting to show the national selectors that he should be in Durban instead of Kimberley preparing with the national team for the upcoming T20 World Cup in the United Arab Emirates and Oman later this month.
The full GBets Rocks squad:
Pieter Malan (captain), Janneman Malan, Ruan Terblanche, Christiaan Jonker, Clyde Fortuin, Sinalo Gobeni, Hlomla Hanabe, Imraan Manack, Ferisco Adams, Achille Cloete, Siyabonga Mahima, Zakhele Qwabe, Ziyaad Abrahams, Khanya Dilima, Shaun Von Berg.
Head coach: Adrian Birrell. Assistants: Henry Williams. Physiotherapist: Brent Martin. Fitness and conditioning: Laden Gamiet.
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