Wellington Wolves to pack a punch in inaugural Boland T10

Wellington Wolves to pack a punch in inaugural Boland T10

Aug 24, 2024 | Boland T10, Teams, Wellington Wolves

The Wellington Wolves

Grant Roelofsen 

Goldrush Boland professionals, Grant Roelofsen, Michael Copeland and Siya Mahima are the Wolves’ marquee players and the trio possess undoubted match-winning capabilities.

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THE Wellington Wolves looks to have put together a potent squad together ahead of the inaugural Boland T10 (BT10) which gets under way on Sunday 1 September.

The BT10 will ignite the new club cricket season and the fact that this will be the introduction for most of the players to the shortest and newest format of the game, ensures that coaches and captains will need to have their thinking caps on the whole time.

Goldrush Boland professionals, Grant Roelofsen, Michael Copeland and Siya Mahima are the Wolves’ marquee players and the trio possess undoubted match-winning capabilities. Roelofsen and Copeland will spearhead the batting and will be assisted by young GysbertWege who is one of the Wolves’ pre-selected players. Pacer Kieran Dreyden and the left arm spin of Mahima will hold the key to their ability to restrict batting teams.

Wolves team manager, Warren Groeneveld, a key member of the Wolves leadership team, affirms the quality of their squad. He says: ‘’We’re excited and focussed as we prepare for this new tournament. This is a short and fast paced format but we’ve managed to assemble a good squad and we believe we can go very far in this tournament.’’

When asked about his personnel, Groeneveld answered enthusiastically: ‘’Look, our marquees players are top performers but we’re equally excited to see how the youngsters in the squad go. These players might not be as well known but guys like Chad Ayford, Wesley Engelbrecht and 17-year-old seamer Marco Junior Cato can use this platform to their advantage.’’

Groeneveld added they thought long and hard about their strategy during the process of pre-selection and especially during the draft evening. ‘’We went in with the strategy of getting versatile players who we think can play this format. We went for allrounders and guys who can bowl at the death and we have explosive batters too. We want to compete fiercely and aim for the title,’’ he confidently concluded.

The Wolves kick off their campaign with a mouthwatering encounter against the West Coast Blues on Monday 2 September.

WELLINGTON WOLVES: Grant Roelofsen, Gysbert Wege, Michael Copeland, Siyabonga Mahima, Riduwaan Louw, Chad Ayford, Junaid Cassiem, Marshall Dampies, Kieran Dreyden, Tiaan Cloete, Marco Junior Cato, Elzario Dreyer, Gio Hulley, Jade Adams, Shaun Wolmarans, Rowan Robertson, Wesley Engelbrecht

Coach: Cedric Williams

Assistant coach: Craig Abrahams

Experience key for Kings in Boland T10

Experience key for Kings in Boland T10

Aug 23, 2024 | Boland T10, Stellenbosch Kings, Teams

The Stellenbosch Kings

Pieter Malan

The Kings will get their tournament underway with a Cape Winelands Derby against the Paarl Rocks on Monday, 2 September 2024 at Boland Park at 20h00

Stellenbosch Kings

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The Stellenbosch Kings, who boasts a strong blend of experience and youthful exuberance, will be one of the six newly formed teams that will compete in the inaugural Boland T10 tournament.

This groundbreaking tournament will be the first of its kind in the Boland club structure and is already much talked about. The Kings will be looking to stake a strong claim for the title after managing to assemble what seems to be a very competitive squad.

Proteas test opener, Pieter Malan, will anchor the batting and although the Kings are yet to announce their captain, Malan’s mere presence in the squad will bolster both their leadership- and batting departments. Allrounder, Aya Gqamane, the Kings’ second marquee player along with Malan, will give the men from the Eikestad a further boost. Gqamane skillful death bowling expertise is well known around the country whilst his fielding, both in the inner ring and on the boundary, is world class.

Former SA under 19 batsman, Ethan Cunningham was one of the Kings’ pre-selected players whilst Boland Colts batsman, Josh Brown, will be another key member of their batting line-up. Seam bowler Peter Cyster and off spinner Rayyaan Rhode will be looking to keep the run-rate intact and take wickets in order to create scoreboard pressure.

Coach Noor Rhode, himself a very experienced mentor, showed his hand by selecting club veterans like Timothy Cornelissen, Morne de Vries and Lindley Hendricks during the draft process. An indication that they feel experience is what’s needed in this, the newest and shortest format of the game.

Says Rhode: ‘’We have mixed feelings of excitement, nerves, and focus. We are looking forward to the thrill of competition, adrenaline that a tournament of such a nature can offer. We are happy with the players that we managed to draft and believe that our team will be a force to be reckoned with. Our squad has a good balance of skill and experience. We are looking forward to giving a good account of our skills and abilities.’’

The Kings will get their tournament underway with a Cape Winelands Derby against the Paarl Rocks on Monday, 2 September 2024 at Boland Park at 20h00.

Squad: Pieter Malan, Aya Gqamane, ⁠Ethan Cunningham, Riyaad Henry, Peter Cyster, Divan Swanepoel, Josh Brown, Peter Minnis, Laurens Smit, Rayyaan Rhode, Lindley Hendricks, Dylan Ross-Watt, Timothy Cornelissen, Morne de Vries, Ruben de Bruin, ⁠Andre Hanekom, Curt Oliver
Coach: Noor Rhode
Assistant coach: Donovan Hendricks