Forrester gains experience playing for Aussie franchise in Guyana

From Sri Lanka, to Guyana and mostly in England, SA’s cricketers are spread far and wide taking up opportunities not just in the traditional off-season stops, but also, owing to the seemingly never-ending germination of new franchise leagues, new venues.

Already in 2026, Proteas captain Temba Bavuma has led the Ghent Gladiators to victory in the inaugural EUT20 tournament in Belgium, and his countrymen have followed suit, albeit in more established cricket nations.

What is notable is the number of players on the cusp of Proteas selection who have been given opportunities, especially by franchises in leagues that barely garner attention.

Most intriguing has been Dian Forrester, who garnered interest while playing for the Joburg Super Kings in the S20, earned a Proteas call-up for the T20 tour to New Zealand in March, and has since had stints in the UK for Kent in the T20 Blast, the Pakistan Super League with Rawalpindi and the Texas Super Kings in Major League Cricket.

Forrester, a 25-year-old all-rounder who impressed for Free State two years ago and subsequently signed for North West, was set for a stint in the Sri Lanka Premier League, but then got a call from the Perth Scorchers Big Bash franchise, who acquired his services for the Global Super League.

The GSL is now in its third year and is hosted in Guyana and features teams from different leagues and competitions for a two-week tournament in Georgetown with prize money of $1m.

This year’s competition includes the Guyana Amazon Warriors, who have a 47-year-old Imran Tahir on their books, along with the San Francisco Unicorns from the MLC, the Lahore Qalandars from Pakistan and the Desert Vipers from the International League T20 in Dubai.

It will be a more than useful experience for Forrester, who performed reasonably well in five matches for the Proteas, and will become a more regular feature in the SA A team in the next few years.

Sharing a change-room with D’Arcy Short, Ashton Turner, Ashton Agar and Jhye Richardson, who’ve all represented Australia, will provide valuable insight for Forrester, who will be looking to build on what has been a good few seasons for him on the domestic front.

Delano Potgieter has stayed on the books of the Qalandars, who he represented in the Pakistan Super League, after starting his off-season representing Hampshire in the first class and T20 competitions in the UK.

Potgieter has been one of the best provincial players, starring for the DP World Lions, and providing similar value for MI Cape Town in the SA20.

Fast bowler Gideon Peters and Connor Esterhuizen are both representing the MLC franchise San Francisco Unicorns in the GSL, keeping themselves busy and earning extra pocket money before the South African season starts.

Lizaad Williams, who returned from long-term knee injury for the Titans in the second half of last season, has taken 10 wickets in three games for the Jaffna Kings in the Lanka Super League.

Williams played 30 matches for the Proteas, including two Tests and was a late call up for the 2023 World Cup squad.

He signed with Boland for the 2026/2027 season.

After starring for the South Africa A side in England in May, Marques Ackerman has continued his good form for the Dambullah Sixers, where he has drifted between five and seven in the order, with scores of 34, 40 and 23 in his last three matches, while bowling a bit too.

The bulk of the big names are signed to The Hundred in the UK, where Tristan Stubbs (Southern Brave) and Ryan Rickelton (Leeds Sunrisers) have been the best performers.

The Proteas T20 captain, Aiden Markram has made a slow start, scoring seven runs in Manchester Super Giants first two matches, Donovan Ferreira has been handed the captaincy role at Birmingham Phoenix after Jacob Bethell was ruled out with injury.

Marco Jansen is the only one of the Proteas’ frontline quick bowlers playing in The Hundred.

Lungi Ngidi and Kagiso Rabada have both taken extra time off ahead of a busy international season following talks with Shukri Conrad and CSA’s medical committee, but Jansen, having signed for the Welsh Fire, is adopting a different approach.

Once The Hundred ends, Jansen will have a month off before the Australians arrive in SA for the One-Day series, which will precede the highly anticipated Test tour.