Proteas spinner Simon Harmer will be leading the Border semi-professional team into action in the season-opening Africa Cup T20 competition at Buffalo Park that kicks off next weekend.
A strong Border squad with a good blend of youth and experience was named to tackle the competition and with five-Test Protea Harmer at the helm, the team will be very confident.
“I am very happy to have been named captain for the Africa Cup and I am looking forward to the competition,” said Harmer.
“You can’t take anything for granted at the moment and I think the Africa Cup is a good shop window for most of the players looking to impress ahead of the coming franchise season.
“But I am flippen excited, I think we have a good chance in the competition and we have a really good side, there is some experience and youth there but the balance is good and that certainly helps our chances.”
Border stalwarts Jerry Nqolo, Darryl Brown and Phaphama Fojela are in the mix, along with exciting up-and-comers Gionne Koopman and Somila Seyibokwe and they are backed up by Warriors regulars Yaseen Vallie, Christiaan Jonker and Harmer.
The competition rules require that all teams play two players under the age of 21, so it will be exciting to follow the performances of Mncedisi Malika, who is graduating from the Border U19 Coca-Cola team and Tsepo Ndwanda, who both made their debut for Border in the last provincial match debuts at the end of the last season against KwaZulu-Natal Inland.
“When I look back at when I was a youngster, playing with senior players, it was always nice to try and learn as much as you possibly can and I think every player wants to perform and add to the teams success so it's a great opportunity for them,” said Harmer.
The Border squad will be gearing up for the competition by playing two warm-up games in Port Elizabeth tomorrow and Friday, before returning to East London for a three-day camp. “We have a few games coming up at the end of the week and then a camp back here, so we will get a good measure of how the side is looking ahead of the Africa Cup,” said Harmer.
“Next week we will have a few team-building sessions just to get to know one another better and spend some time with each other and then have a final few practice sessions before we play on Friday.”
The Africa Cup pool C will be played from next week Friday to Sunday and the other teams participating in the pool will be Zimbabwe, Easterns and Free State.
All matches will be played at Buffalo Park and two days of cricket will be televised live on SuperSport and highlights on SABC2.
The Border squad will also be at Hemingways Mall this Saturday morning at 11.30am to interact with the people and at the same time hand out flyers to promote the competition.
Border cricket squad for the Africa Cup T20: Simon Harmer (captain), Mncedisi Malika, Gionne Koopman, Somila Seyibokwe, Jerry Nqolo, Christiaan Jonker, Darryl Brown, Yaseen Vallie, Ayabulela Gqamane, Clayton Bosch, Phaphama Fojela, Mkhululi Calana, Tsepo Ndwandwa.
Harmer's the leading man
A strong Border squad with a good blend of youth and experience was named to tackle the competition and with five-Test Protea Harmer at the helm, the team will be very confident.
“I am very happy to have been named captain for the Africa Cup and I am looking forward to the competition,” said Harmer.
“You can’t take anything for granted at the moment and I think the Africa Cup is a good shop window for most of the players looking to impress ahead of the coming franchise season.
“But I am flippen excited, I think we have a good chance in the competition and we have a really good side, there is some experience and youth there but the balance is good and that certainly helps our chances.”
Border stalwarts Jerry Nqolo, Darryl Brown and Phaphama Fojela are in the mix, along with exciting up-and-comers Gionne Koopman and Somila Seyibokwe and they are backed up by Warriors regulars Yaseen Vallie, Christiaan Jonker and Harmer.
The competition rules require that all teams play two players under the age of 21, so it will be exciting to follow the performances of Mncedisi Malika, who is graduating from the Border U19 Coca-Cola team and Tsepo Ndwanda, who both made their debut for Border in the last provincial match debuts at the end of the last season against KwaZulu-Natal Inland.
“When I look back at when I was a youngster, playing with senior players, it was always nice to try and learn as much as you possibly can and I think every player wants to perform and add to the teams success so it's a great opportunity for them,” said Harmer.
The Border squad will be gearing up for the competition by playing two warm-up games in Port Elizabeth tomorrow and Friday, before returning to East London for a three-day camp. “We have a few games coming up at the end of the week and then a camp back here, so we will get a good measure of how the side is looking ahead of the Africa Cup,” said Harmer.
“Next week we will have a few team-building sessions just to get to know one another better and spend some time with each other and then have a final few practice sessions before we play on Friday.”
The Africa Cup pool C will be played from next week Friday to Sunday and the other teams participating in the pool will be Zimbabwe, Easterns and Free State.
All matches will be played at Buffalo Park and two days of cricket will be televised live on SuperSport and highlights on SABC2.
The Border squad will also be at Hemingways Mall this Saturday morning at 11.30am to interact with the people and at the same time hand out flyers to promote the competition.
Border cricket squad for the Africa Cup T20: Simon Harmer (captain), Mncedisi Malika, Gionne Koopman, Somila Seyibokwe, Jerry Nqolo, Christiaan Jonker, Darryl Brown, Yaseen Vallie, Ayabulela Gqamane, Clayton Bosch, Phaphama Fojela, Mkhululi Calana, Tsepo Ndwandwa.
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