The North West Dragons will put pen to a new chapter this coming Thursday, 10 November, when they put on their whites in a battle with the Knights in Bloemfontein to signal the start of the highly anticipated CSA 4-Day Series.
The Dragons started their 2022/23 season on a rough note with a 7th place finish in the CSA T20 Challenge and will look to improve in the longer format to boost their chances in division 1.
A massive boost for the Dragons is the return of captain , Nicky van den Bergh from injury. Van den Bergh missed the CSA T20 Challenge and his presence provides a positive impact with his leadership, batting and keeping abilities.
Van den Bergh’s re-entry comes at a critical time especially with opener Lesego Senokwane (fractured finger) and middle order batsman, Heino Kuhn (hamstring) missing the first encounter due to injury.
“I am excited to be on the field to play cricket again after missing two tournaments due to injury. From a team perspective we let ourselves down in the 4-day competition last season. We are a much better 4-day team, so we can hopefully begin well with good cricket this season and put on a show. Bloem is a difficult place to go and win, but we are ready for the challenge. I am looking forward to bat again and to play cricket,” says Van den Bergh.
NW Dragons head coach Craig Alexander emphasised that the team is ready for the 4-day competition and will look to focus on positives gained from a disappointing T20 campaign this past month.
“I know the guys are hurting after the T20 competition, we had lot of good and hard chats and the guys are looking forward to turning the corner heading into the 4-day competition in Bloemfontein.
The Dragons will most likely look to Grant Mokoena and Wesley Marshall to provide a good start with the bat at the top of the order. Shaylen Pillay, Van den Bergh, Senuran Muthusamy and Delano Potgieter will provide depth in the middle. Renaldo Meyer, Duan Jansen, Hardus Coetzer and Lwandiswa Zuma and Potgieter provide pace options. Tumelo Thlokwe is another spin option together with Muthusamy.
