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With the cricket signing window having closed last Wednesday, it has emerged that the Eastern Cape Iinyathi have roped in Sithembile Langa and Riley Miller as part of their squad for the coming season.
This is expected to be announced by the KuGompo City Division Two team in the coming weeks.
According to reports, they were considered to be like-for-like replacements for the team’s recent departures.
Iinyathi lost batter Wian Ruthven and bowler Nico van Zyl, who joined the Knights.
Chad Classen also left, returning to the Eastern Storm in Benoni.
Langa, 30, makes his comeback to Border, for whom he made his debut in 2016.
He will be joining from the Knights, where he featured in almost all of their domestic games, helping them get promoted to Division One.
The right-arm fast bowler has 209 wickets across formats in 124 matches.
Aggressive and hard-hitting, Miller is expected to occupy a high-performance contract.
Like Ruthven, he is also a product of Hoërskool Waterkloof. In 2025, he was part of the SA Invitational U19 team.
Border CEO Sean Beyer had indicated they had signed three players a few weeks ago to replace Ruthven, Van Zyl and Classen.
He said they had retained the majority of the squad from last season, as they were looking at continuity.
The Iinyathi side finished second in the promotional table.
Next season, they will be coached by Rowan Richards, who replaced Tumelo Bodibe, as they look for promotion to the top flight.
But they will have to wait two seasons in the new promotion system to have a chance at cracking the top flight.
This Cricket SA decision was described as ensuring longevity in the top flight for promoted teams.
The combined points log will still be used to determine the best teams, but points will be accumulated from three-day and 50-over cricket. The T20 is excluded.
Iinyathi will have a chance of playing with the likes of the Warriors, Titans, Lions, Dolphins and Western Province, who play in the top flight in a new proposed T20 competition next season.
They will also feature in three-day red ball games instead of the traditional four.
The fourth day will be used to play the 50-over match.
Daily Dispatch
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