Cricket South Africa announced the CSA Emerging Academy 2024 intake for both the men and women early this week.
CSA has decided to rebrand the program and call it the Emerging Academy instead of the National Academy. On branding and PR perspective the national academy sounds much better than emerging academy.
The men’s side will be looked after by Malibongwe Makete, and the women will be monitored by Dinesha Devnarain. The women’s academy will run from June until July, while the men’s program will run for 3 months.
CSA Head of High-Performance Grant van Helden stated: “In line with the dynamic shifts in international cricket and our bold 2027 vision, the reimagining of our ‘National Academy’ marks a pivotal moment. The emergence of the 2024 CSA Emerging Academy underscores our commitment to bridging the gap between domestic and international cricket.
“By honing in on personalised technical and tactical growth over an intensive period, we’re fast-tracking the development of a select group of players and this forward-looking approach not only speaks to the immediate needs of our Proteas teams but also lays the groundwork for sustained excellence.”
The main focus for the women players will be to develop their batting skills. Hence, there are no specialist bowlers among the intake. There are a few bowling all-rounders among the players.
Three players of the fifteen are nationally contracted with the Proteas in Anneke Bosch, Delmi Tucker, and Lara Goodall. Lara returned to the Proteas lineup against Sri Lanka. She struggled in the first match, but while she may have struggled a bit in the second match, she managed to get going and scored a decent total.
Delmi is yet to find a space for herself in the national team, but she had a chance of batting at number 3, and she struggled. Delmi’s batting skill is there, but the responsibility was probably too much for her. That is the one thing that Devnarain will need to assist Delmi with. Anneke is surprisingly part of the program, as she has been one of the best players for South Africa in the past 8 months. Anneke’s main problem is that she tends to throw her wicket away after she has laid a good foundation. On a positive note, she is not shy about being aggressive. At the age of 30, she is one of the more mature players in the program.
Nonkululeko Thabethe, at the age of 31, is once again scouted by CSA after the season she had with the bat for the Lions. Nonkululeko’s story is interesting as she last represented South Africa in 2014, and she has played 1 ODI, 1 T20, and 1 Test match for South Africa. After that tour of India, there has been nothing.
Annerie Dercksen, Nondumiso Shangase, Saraah Smith, and Faye Tunnicliffe are the only other players to have national colours, and Tebogo Macheke gets the nod over Mieke de Ridder. It would have made a little more sense if both players made the cut to develop more wicketkeepers for South Africa.
Oluhle Siyo is the only player from the second division to make the cut. The former SA u19 captain teammates Kayla Reyneke and Miane Smit also make the cut.
Western Province captain Leah Jones, Titans all-rounder Gandhi Jafta and Garden Route Badgers top order batter Asakhe Nyovane also makes the cut.
As for men, the intake seems all over the place. There are a lot of young players that could have joined, but CSA probably knows what they are doing.
It is good to see Jade de Klerk being recognised while playing for Border, but Nqaba Peter had to leave Border for the Lions for him to get recognition. Kgaudisa Molefe from Limpopo, who played for SA u19 with Jade, would also be a good spinner to join. 28 year old Siyabonga Mahima is another player who should be part of the Emerging Academy as South Africa looks to invest in spinners.
CSA Emerging Academy – Women
Anneke Bosch (Titans), Annere Dercksen (Garden Route Badgers), Lara Goodall (Western Province), Gandhi Jafta (Titans), Leah Jones (Western Province), Tebogo Macheke (Titans), Oluhle Siyo (Boland), Asakhe Nyovane (Garden Route Badgers), Nondumiso Shangase (Dolphins), Kayla Reynecke (Western Province), Miane Smit (Free State), Saarah Smith (Western Province), Nkululeko Thabathe (Lions), Delmi Tucker (Western Province) and Faye Tunnicliffe (Western Province).
CSA Emerging Academy – Men
Jade de Klerk (Border), Dian Forrester (Free State), Valentine Kitime (Western Province), Duan Jansen (North West), Tristan Luus (Dolphins), Dewan Marais (Easterns), Litheko Modiri (Titans), Mihlali Mpongwana (Western Province), Nipho Mpungose (Free State), Nqaba Peter (Lions), Caleb Seleka (North West), Andile Simelane (Dolphins) and Ntando Zuma (KZN Inland).
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