Former SA U19 batter Dewald Brevis has earned a maiden call-up in the South Africa national T20I and ODI squads for the upcoming white-ball tour of Australia. The 20-year-old made a name for himself as the leading run-scorer at the ICC U19 Men’s Cricket World Cup in January 2022 with 506 runs -– the most by any batter in a single edition of the tournament.
The right-hander has since gone on to impress in T20 leagues around the world and currently holds the record for the highest individual domestic T20 score in South Africa – 162 off 57 balls – which he struck during last season’s CSA T20 Challenge. He also enjoyed success in the recent SA ‘A’ tour to Sri Lanka, where he hit a 71-ball 98 in the first unofficial 50-over match, Cricket South Africa (CSA) informed in a statement on Monday.
Joining Brevis in the T20I squad for the first time are Donovan Ferreira and Gerald Coetzee - the latter could add to his Test and ODI caps if selected -- as well as another domestic white-ball star Matthew Breetzke.
Keshav Maharaj has been included in the second and third T20Is as well as the ODI squad as the spinner continues his comeback from a ruptured left Achilles tendon, which he sustained during the Test series against West Indies in March.
Quinton de Kock, Heinrich Klaasen, David Miller, Anrich Nortje and Kagiso Rabada are rested for the three-match T20I series and will return for the five-match ODI series.
The 15-player squad for the World Cup will be announced on September 5.
Commenting on the selection, white-ball head coach Rob Walter said: “We are looking for opportunities to grow our base of players, and the T20I series against Australia is a perfect chance to give some of the rising cricketers in the country the chance to show us what they are capable of.
"For this reason, we have included players such as Dewald, Donovan and Matthew. These are guys that have been performing consistently week in and week out domestically so we are now looking forward to seeing what they can do at the next level. They also possess a particular skill set that fits into the way we are looking to play the game moving forward," he was quoted as saying by CSA in a release.
“We are also happy to welcome back Keshav. He has made significant progress and is ahead of where we expected him to be at this point with his recovery and so we've included him in the squads to give him the best chance to be available for selection for the World Cup squad.
“If by some chance he's not ready to play in the second and third T20Is, he will then be replaced in the squad and then we'll set our target on the ODI series, which is even more important to us in just a month out from the World Cup,” he said.
Director of Cricket Enoch Nkwe added: “This is a really exciting time for all South Africans; the World Cup is on the horizon and India awaits. I think every single one of the players that have been selected deserve full credit for making the squads.
"They have worked incredibly hard to get to this point and this tour against a strong Australian side will provide us the perfect preparation for what is to come over the coming months. I am sure it will be a very hard-fought tour against one of the world's best teams," he said.
Proteas squads against Australia:
