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Eastern Cape Iinyathi head coach Rowan Richards has quickly grown into his new role and says the reason they opted for a few signings during the transfer window was because they wanted to build momentum from last season.
Richards was officially confirmed as the Border Cricket men’s team head coach last week after being an assistant, as speculated by this publication two months ago.
He replaced Tumelo Bodibe who, at the early stages of the transfer window, jumped ship to join the Eastern Storm.
To reinforce their squad, Border only added two names to their roster for the coming season scheduled to potentially start in September.
The two new players are youngster Riley Miller and Sithembile Langa from the Knights. Right-arm quick Langa has a history of playing for Border previously.
Miller is currently in the ranks of the SA U19 and is a future prospect.
They replaced Chad Classen, Nico van Zyl and Wian Ruthven, who departed the Iinyathi for the Knights and Easterns, respectively.
The rest of the squad remained the same, with Jerome Bossr and Nathan Roux expected to share the leadership position and be in the top order.
Jason Niemand, Lihle Sizani, Mncedisi Malika, Michael Copeland, Christiaan Du Toit and Hardus Coetzer make up the middle order in the group.
Thando Ntini, Matthew Fourie, Kgaudi Molefe and CSA Awards nominees Thozama Totana and Alindile Mhletywa make up the rest of the bowling attack.
“It has been a major achievement to be trusted with mentoring the Iinyathi.
“It shows growth in the coaching space that I have had from the junior ranks till now.
“The mandate remains the same: to get the Iinyathi promoted,” Richards said.
“We can’t downplay that the guys we lost were big and key members in the team, but the players are good enough to fill their roles.
“Simthembile has been with Border before; he knows the culture of the team, is experienced and will fit in easily within for sure.
“Same with Miller; he’s hostile in his batting position and will surely give the team runs at the top.
“With the rest of the team we opted for continuity as we chance again for promotion,” he said.
Iinyathi finished in second place on the promotion table last season behind the Knights, who were promoted.
But this season the rules for promotion and formats have changed.
Cricket SA is expected to extend the promotion timeline from the lower division to the top flight from one season to two.
There’s been a format change to benefit teams in Division 2 in terms of television exposure.
Iinyathi will play against Division One teams, like the Warriors, Titans, Lions, Dolphins and others in the T20s.
First-class cricket has been reduced from four days to three.
The fourth day now will see 50-over cricket scheduled.
Richards isn’t bothered by the changes.
“Our players will have the chance to test themselves against quality players in the T20s which will be a big opportunity for our players,” he said.
“The changes in format and in the promotion process won’t affect much in terms of our planning, we just have to adapt.”
Daily Dispatch
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