Ken Borland

Robyn Searle

The Fidelity Titans captain probably does not get the adulation she deserves after another stellar season in 2023/24. The right-handed opener was the team’s leading run-scorer in both the one-day and T20 competitions, and a model of consistency.

In the 50-over tournament, her tally of 397 runs was second only to Proteas star Tazmin Brits in the overall run-scorers list, while her 233 runs in the T20s was the fifth best nationally. Five half-centuries in 10 innings in the one-dayers left her with an outstanding average of 44.11.

The 27-year-old Searle is an elegant strokeplayer who can score all around the wicket. Born in Johannesburg, she initially played for Gauteng, before joining the University of Pretoria and the Titans.

Paulinah Mashishi

Paulinah Mashishi bowled her off-spin with such skilful nuance last season that she was the joint leading wicket-taker in both the one-day and T20 competitions.

Undoubtedly the banker of the Fidelity Titans attack, the Hammanskraal product took 18 wickets in ten 50-over matches, a tally only matched by Proteas star Nonkululeko Mlaba. Mashishi averaged just 19.11 and conceded only 3.90 runs per over. In the T20s, she also averaged 19 as she took 11 wickets, conceding just 5.38 runs-per-over.

Hailing from the Tshwane University of Technology, Mashishi bowls with a high action and is wonderfully accurate. She was named the Titans player of the season earlier in 2024.

Tebogo Macheke

Identified as a wicketkeeper/batter of much potential, Macheke has played for the SA Emerging team and been invited to senior Proteas camps.

Hailing from Hammanskraal, Macheke averaged 23.25 with the bat in six one-day matches for the Fidelity Titans last season, and scored 108 T20 runs at better than a run-a-ball.

Now 24, Macheke played for the Limpopo Impalas for a couple of seasons, but returned to Northerns in 2022.

Ricea Coetzer

Just 24 years old but a stalwart of the team, Coetzer has been playing for the Fidelity Titans since 2016.

The Titans have been able to take advantage of her accurate spin bowling to restrict opposition batting line-ups, and last season she had an economy rate of 6.77 in T20s and 4.96 in one-day cricket, playing nine matches across the two formats.

But the teacher and former University of Pretoria player has also been known to rip through batting line-ups and in the 2021 Women’s Provincial League in Cape Town she returned the astonishing figures of five for six in 10 overs against the Central Gauteng Lions.

Coetzer is also handy with the bat, with a highest List A score of 70.

Gandhi Jafta

Intellectual prowess and sporting success flow into each other for Gandhi Jafta as this University of Pretoria star combines lecturing and doing her doctorate in Mathematical Statistics with being a key all-rounder for the Fidelity Titans.

Educated at Lilyfontein in East London and making her senior provincial debut for Border as a 16-year-old in 2015, Jafta’s life and career flew to new heights at Tuks. She was named the leading university’s Cricketer of the Year in both 2020 and 2022, and made her debut for the Titans in 2018.

Last season, Jafta excelled with the ball for the Titans in the 50-over competition, taking 10 wickets in seven matches with her well-flighted off-spin, averaging just 20.10 with an economy rate of only 4.46.

As a batter, she relies more on feel than power and scored her second half-century for the Titans last season. She has also represented the SA Emerging team and was a member of the squad that reached the final of the Africa Games in Ghana.

Katherine Prior

The Fidelity Titans were fortunate to receive good starts in most of their innings last season thanks to the presence of Prior and skipper Robyn Searle at the top of the order.

The Mpumalanga product’s transformation from a bowling all-rounder to top-order batter was made complete in 2023/24 as Prior scored 305 runs for the Titans in the one-day competition, second only to Searle, at a superb average of 61.00, including three half-centuries. She was also the aggressor up front in the T20 tournament, striking at 106.66.

Prior is more of a part-time bowler these days, but her bustling medium-pace, with a bit of swing, still chips in with useful wickets.

Amogelang Maphangula

Amogelang Maphangula is the sort of white-ball player that gets viewers up off their couches – an exciting, dominating middle-order batter and a wonderful fielder.

Fresh out of her teens, Maphangula was really able to express herself with the bat in the 50-over competition last season, scoring 153 runs at an average of 25.50 and a phenomenal strike-rate of 124.39 – the best in the tournament.

She performed her finishing role with intent in the T20 league, striking at 103.70.

A thrilling season for Maphangula saw her play in Japan as part of an exchange programme and she was named the Titans’ Most Promising Player at the end of the local campaign.

Who knows where Maphangula’s cricketing odyssey will end, what we do know is that it will get spectators on their feet.

Kay-Leigh Tapp

Tapp began her provincial career way back in 2006 in Durban, where she was born, and, going into her 15^th season of senior cricket, she is still a wonderful pace bowler. Tapp joined the Titans in 2021 after a four-year break from the game; her appointment as head of girls’ sport and physical education at Beaulieu Preparatory School was why she moved to Gauteng.

The 34-year-old was a key member of the Fidelity Titans’ one-day team last season, taking 11 wickets, but what she did particularly well was restrict the batters – conceding just 3.83 runs-per-over. Tapp was similarly economical in the T20 competition, going for just 7.71 runs-per-over.

Tapp is a tall bowler who is able to bowl consistent lines and can either hit the deck hard or get the ball up to the batter.

Monalisa Legodi

One is loathe to put too much pressure on young cricketers and Monalisa Legodi is still a teenager but has become a regular in the Fidelity Titans senior outfit. The tall and athletic pace bowler played 13 times in both one-day and T20 cricket for the team last season and was particularly effective in the 50-over game, taking seven wickets in six matches at an average of 19.85 and conceding just 5.14 runs-per-over.

Having already played for the SA U19 and SA Emerging teams, Legodi is poised to enter Titans lore if she continues to mature into the bowler she is expected to become. As far back as December 2020, Legodi, from the Soshanguve hub, grabbed an opportunity to impress then senior national coach Hilton Moreeng with her performances when he attended the Women’s Super League in Cape Town.

Alysia Rudolph

The 27-year-old Rudolph is a new signing from Division II side Easterns. A marvellously talented cricketer, she can bowl mesmerising off-spin as well as being a mighty striker of the ball, either at the top of the order or as a finisher.

Rudolph was a star all-round sportsgirl at Vereeniging Gimnasium and first played senior cricket in the Gauteng system, where she spent five years. She joined Easterns in 2020/21 and has earned her stint back in the domestic top division by virtue of her performances with the ball last season. Rudolph was the leading wicket-taker in the T20 Division II competition as well as being in the top-five in one-day cricket. With the bat, she struck at 84.31 in the 50-over game and 120.89 in the shortest format.

Pura Andreou

A product of the powerful Cornwall Hill College cricket system, Pura Andreou is a new signing for the Fidelity Titans, fresh out of school. But she has been a dominant batter not just against her peers, but in Northerns senior premier league club cricket. Andreou plays for Irene Villagers and shone for them back in April at the T20 national club championships. Andreou has played for the Titans U19 team since 2021, taking a terrible toll on bowling attacks since then.

Masabata Klaas

The Proteas stalwart hails from Botshabelo in the Free State and joined the Fidelity Titans last season, enjoying a marvellous debut campaign in which she topped both the batting and bowling averages for the team in the T20 competition. Klaas claimed seven scalps in her five T20s, averaging just 15.00 and conceding just 5.52 runs-per-over. She also showed she has the makings of a genuine all-rounder, producing some mighty blows as she scored 94 runs in four innings, being dismissed just once and scoring at a magnificent strike-rate of 130.55.

Klaas took six one-day wickets, with an economy rate of only 4.40, and also averaged 25.33 with the bat, at a strike-rate of 83.51.

A bustling pace bowler who keeps to tight off-side lines and has an excellent slower-ball, Klaas has played nearly 150 times for South Africa in all formats and is an inspirational figure because she took time off from her career to be a mother.

Laura Wolvaardt

A prestigious signing for the Fidelity Titans last season, Wolvaardt’s hot run of form just keeps rolling on, even though she has also now taken over the captaincy of the Proteas. In Tests she became just the third player to score a century in all three formats of women’s international cricket; in ODIs she powered her way to five centuries last season while scoring 925 runs in 15 innings, at an average of 84.09 and a strike-rate of 88.68; and in T20s she averaged 62 with a strike-rate of 124.

A global superstar who has won the Big Bash League twice and has also played in the T20 leagues in England and India, Wolvaardt was named South Africa’s Player of the Year earlier in 2024 and walked away with four other awards. Born in Milnerton and educated at Parklands College in the Western Cape, Wolvaardt first began playing cricket with boys when she was four years old.

A supreme stylist at the crease, with arguably the most beautiful cover-drive in the game, opening batter Wolvaardt combines technical excellence with fiery strokeplay.

Anneke Bosch

The 31-year-old Proteas regular joined the Fidelity Titans last season and, without ever going wild with the bat, enjoyed a very solid debut season for the Sky Blue Daisies.

Bosch averaged 39.50 in 50-over cricket and 37.75 in the T20 competition. Technically correct as a batter who is flexible enough to bat in the top-order and lower down, Bosch also offers part-time seam bowling and has a dozen international wickets to her name.

Hailing from East London, Bosch’s journey to the Titans has taken her via Border, Free State and North-West. She made her Proteas debut in 2016 and is a qualified biokineticist.

Sune Luus

The Titans legend and former Proteas captain goes into the 2024/25 season having enjoyed her own version of an Indian summer to give her plenty of momentum. Luus scored 65 and an epic 109 in South Africa’s Test against India in Chennai in June, showing that beneath the broadest of smiles there is a character with huge tenacity.

Luus, who has a cricket-mad father and older brother, took up the game at the age of four and by the time she was 13, she was playing for the Titans senior side already, debuting in 2009. Luus was a top-order batter for the Hoërskool Menlopark boys team through to U15 level, taking on provincial representatives.

Apart from scoring more than 3700 runs for South Africa in all formats, Luus has also taken more than 150 white-ball wickets with her well-flighted leg-spin.

A gutsy performer, Luus is one of the most accomplished cricketers to come out of Northerns territory and everyone at the Titans was delighted to see her back to her best for the Proteas, after some tough series.

Luus fitted in four appearances for the Fidelity Titans last season between all her international commitments and played a couple of blazing knocks in the T20 competition, striking at 155.10.

Eliz-Mari Marx

A penetrative pace bowler and a big-hitting batter, Marx has been part of the Titans set-up since 2016, when she was just 13 years old.

But last season was her breakthrough campaign. The all-rounder started the season by nailing the SWD Badgers attack for 115 runs off just 66 balls, an innings studded with 11 fours and six sixes. In December she made her Proteas debut and in February she claimed two key wickets in a robust spell of pace bowling during South Africa’s historic first ODI win against Australia on their home turf.

Born and bred in Pretoria, Marx went to Hoërskool Zwartkop, the same school that produced Titans legend Mignon du Preez. Physically powerful, Marx is fast becoming a key player for the Daisies and a rising talent in South African cricket.

Gordon Matheson

Gordon Matheson comes to SuperSport Park as the new head coach of the Fidelity Titans after three challenging seasons in charge of the Mpumalanga senior men’s team.

An experienced mentor who has been coaching since 2001, Matheson was previously in charge of the King Edward V11 1^st XI and played a pivotal role in the development of exciting new stars in South African cricket like Bryce Parsons and Mitchell van Buuren.

A coach who is strong on batting and building relationships with his players, Matheson was introduced to the game as a young child by his grandfather (also Gordon), who played first-class cricket for Griqualand West in the 1960s.

Athi Maphosa

Having been the assistant coach of the KZN Inland Tuskers men’s team in Division One last season, Athi Maphosa is an exciting addition to the Fidelity Titans coaching staff.

The 34-year-old Maphosa has plenty of playing experience, appearing more than a hundred times for the KZN Inland team as a tidy pace bowler, as well as featuring in 13 franchise matches for the Dolphins.

Born in Umzimkulu in the southern Natal Midlands, Maphosa was educated at Maritzburg College and played for the SA Schools Colts side in 2008. He has also been involved in coaching at hubs level – at Sweetwaters.

Matthew Boast

One of the clutch of new players being groomed to be stars at SuperSport Park, Matthew Boast is a lively pace bowler and useful lower-order batsman who hits the ball hard. Educated at Hilton College in KwaZulu-Natal Inland, Boast then joined Tuks and was a key member of the SA U19 team in the 2022 Junior World Cup.

His potential was shown when he was bought by the Pretoria Capitals as a rookie for a whopping R1.6 million for the second season of the SA20. Boast played one first-class match, taking four wickets, and three 50-over games, claiming five wickets, for the Titans last season. He will turn 22 in February.

Keegan Petersen

Having lost his place in the Proteas Test team, Keegan Petersen has decided to reignite his career by moving from his birthplace in Paarl to join the brilliant cricket therapists at the Titans. There is a proud tradition of batsmen from the Western Cape coming to stay at SuperSport Park and scoring plenty of runs.

Having played a starring role in South Africa’s epic series win over India in 2021/22, Petersen played just three Tests last summer and had his struggles domestically for Boland as well. But he showed his enduring class in the One-Day Cup, scoring 383 runs at an average of 76.60 and a strike-rate of 82.01, with a century and three fifties.

A gutsy cricketer who is always up for a challenge, Petersen has always worked diligently on his batting, and even though he is 31 years old now, he is still learning and growing his game. Technically sound, Petersen’s highly-esteemed strokeplay is always worth a watch as he massages the ball around the field, but he also has great resilience.

Corbin Bosch

Corbin Bosch adheres to the principle of going hard whether it is with ball or bat, making him one of the Titans’ most valuable all-rounders, particularly in the white-ball formats.

The 30-year-old has developed into a reliable lower-order batsman, and he was especially good in first-class cricket last season, averaging 42.75 and taking his tally of career half-centuries to eight.

But the Durban-born Tuks product first made his name as a mean and nasty fast bowler, who often creates pressure and wickets for the bowler at the other end. Bosch has followed in the footsteps of his late father Tertius, a bowler of great pace for Northerns who played a Test and two ODIs for South Africa in 1992.

Corbin Bosch enjoyed an excellent T20 campaign for the Titans last season, playing in 13 matches and taking 13 wickets, while conceding just 7.33 runs-per-over.

Neil Brand

Half-a-dozen seasons of consistency at the Titans with both bat and ball earned Neil Brand reward last season when he made his Test debut for South Africa, and was given the honour of captaining the team on their tour of New Zealand.

Although Brand did not fare as well as he usually does with the bat for the Titans last season, he showed his adaptability as a cricketer when he moved into the middle-order for the CSA T20 Challenge and did a fine job, averaging 34.83 and scoring at a strike-rate of 130.62.

He made a considerable contribution with the ball throughout the season, though, his left-arm spin netting him 12 wickets in four red-ball matches at an average of just 16.75, while he was tough to score off in the white-ball formats with economy rates of 5.25 in one-day cricket and 6.83 in the T20s.

Generally a top-order batsman, Brand will be relied upon again this season to get the Titans on the front foot, while his bowling has also earned respect.

Dewald Brevis

The weight of expectation on young Dewald Brevis, the 2022 U19 World Cup Player of the Tournament, does not stunt the growth of his game as his second full season of senior cricket saw him once again produce several moments of great skill and daring.

He came of age in four-day cricket, averaging 40.63 with two centuries, and he also made two hundreds in one-day cricket, averaging 53.14 at a strike-rate of 97.89 as he collected 372 runs, the most for the Titans.

The maker of the highest individual score by a South African in T20 cricket – his breakthrough 162 off just 57 balls for the Titans against the Knights in 2022/23 – only played three matches in the shortest format for the franchise last season, due to his IPL commitments.

His two 50-over centuries were contrasting efforts: Brevis made 100 off only 80 balls against the Dragons, and also scored 116 off 118 deliveries, out of a total of 217, the Titans having lost their first three wickets with just one run on the board, against Western Province.

The 21-year-old’s maiden four-day hundred (110) came in the thrilling win over the Warriors, and he then scored 113 a week later in a victory over the Dragons in Potchefstroom. Those back-to-back displays really attracted attention and the further development of this precocious, massive talent will be eagerly watched this season.

Junior Dala

If ever there was a player who you could choose to represent the ultimate professional, then Junior Dala would be your man. Supremely fit, willing to charge in all day and constantly growing his skills with both ball and bat, Dala was the leading wicket-taker for the Titans in the four-day competition, taking 23 in just four matches at an excellent average of only 22.47. His six for 58, and nine wickets in the match, against the Lions at SuperSport Park almost bowled the Titans into the final.

Capped a dozen times for South Africa in white-ball cricket, Dala initially played for Gauteng and Easterns, but joined the Titans in 2013. His outstanding resilience and athleticism have now been complemented by great clarity in terms of game-plan, and this affable stalwart of Titans cricket will no doubt continue to be a key strike bowler this season.

Donovan Ferreira

Born and bred in Pretoria, Ferreira got off the mark in international cricket with a second-ball six, which epitomises the boldness of his batting. But the 26-year-old is way more than just a hard-hitting basher: Ferreira is a nice package across the board as a cricketer – an adept finisher but someone who is also crossing over with success into four-day cricket, a handy off-spinner and a part-time wicketkeeper.

Having been plucked out of civilian life as a salesman by Titans coach Mandla Mashimbyi, Ferreira continues to grow his game and is now a sought-after player in leagues across the world.

Ferreira hammered 353 runs in seven innings, at an average of 58.83 and a strike-rate of 137.35 for the Momentum Multiply Titans in the One-Day Cup, ensuring a positive end to most innings. He collected 18 sixes during the competition, more than anyone else.

He showed his bowling prowess by taking 10 wickets in the four-day match against North-West in Potchefstroom, while his brave 96 against Western Province at Newlands was his red-ball batting highlight.

Dayyaan Galiem

After being named the Titans’ 2019/20 Player of the Season, Galiem has had terrible misfortune with injuries. Nevertheless, he keeps popping up with crucial contributions with both bat and ball, and in all three formats. As a bowler, the all-rounder has lively pace and swings the ball prodigiously, making him a real handful when conditions are conducive. Galiem is also a very capable batsman down the order, as shown by his average of 23.82 for the Titans in four-day cricket, while his strong hitting has seen him employed in a finishing role in white-ball cricket. Alongside Donovan Ferreira, he famously steered the Titans to the CSA T20 Challenge title in 2022/23 with a top-class, matchwinning, unbeaten effort with the bat, while last season he had a strike-rate of 152.63 with the bat in the same competition to show his ability to punish attacks.

Sibonelo Makhanya

Very pleasing on the eye whether as a strokeplayer or when dashing around the field, Sibs Makhanya was one of the Titans’ most consistent batsmen last season in both four-day cricket and the T20 competition.

He had a marvellous T20 tournament, scoring 348 runs, second only to Rivaldo Moonsamy for the Titans, at a strike-rate of 132.82 and he passed 50 three times, more than any other Titans batsman. He shone as a true middle-order entertainer, bringing great urgency, quick running between the wickets and tremendous improvisation and skill to the crease, as well as being one of the best fielders in the competition.

In first-class cricket, he notched four half-centuries, averaging 31.75 for the campaign.

Makhanya was a member of Aiden Markram’s 2014 junior world cup winning team and has also been a popular captain of the Titans.

Rivaldo Moonsamy

The wicketkeeper/batsman was on fire last season on his return to the Momentum Multiply Titans, being their leading run-scorer in both the four-day and T20 competitions. Moonsamy averaged an impressive 48.72 against the red ball, scoring 536 runs which included hundreds against the Warriors and the Dolphins. He also more than earned his bread in the T20 competition, lashing 428 runs at a dazzling strike-rate of 136.30.

Moonsamy was named the Titans’ Men’s Player of the Year in a triumphant return to the province after two seasons away with Northern Cape. A born-and-bred Pretoria product, Moonsamy is from Laudium and was schooled at St Alban’s, making the Northerns Schools team in 2013 and 2014.

Selection for the SA A team for the four-day series against Sri Lanka A in September showed that Moonsamy has put himself in line for higher honours and he will be eager to once again produce the goods for the Titans this season.

Joshua van Heerden

The St Alban’s educated Van Heerden played in just eight matches for the Momentum Multiply Titans in 2023/24, but it was across all formats and he marked his return to Pretoria, having played in the Eastern Cape since leaving school, with some memorable personal achievements. The right-handed opener notched his first century for the Titans when he scored an unbeaten 109 against the Tuskers in Pietermaritzburg, adding a record 252 for the first wicket with Matthew Kleinveldt. Van Heerden also scored his first T20 half-century for the Titans when he bashed 56 off just 35 balls against the Dolphins.

A composed batsman who shows good judgement, Van Heerden played 10 T20 internationals for Germany in 2022/23.

Lizaad Williams

One can’t underestimate the threat posed by Lizaad Williams with his skiddy bounce and ability to move the ball off the pitch. Those weapons are why the Proteas had selected the pace bowler for two Tests, four ODIs and 13 T20 internationals by the start of this season. He was part of the 50-over World Cup squad that made the semi-finals in 2023.

Fiercely competitive, Williams was the leading wicket-taker for the Joburg Super Kings in the SA20 in 2024 and he has served the Momentum Multiply Titans extremely well since 2020/21, when he was named as their Player of the Year at the end of the season, as a strike bowler able to break those stubborn partnerships.

The Lizaad Williams story is an inspirational one as he comes from humble beginnings in Vredenburg on the Cape West Coast and early hardships have made him a very resilient character.

Sisanda Magala

The Proteas white-ball international is a new signing for the Momentum Multiply Titans, having missed most of last season with the Lions due to knee surgery. Magala is a marvellous limited-overs bowler, possessing both a magnificent yorker and, thanks to his physical strength, the ability to hit the deck hard while bowling at decent pace.

Hailing originally from the Eastern Cape, Magala should also not be underestimated as a batsman, averaging 19.44 in first-class cricket with nine half-centuries, and having a pair of fifties each in 50-over and T20 cricket.

Magala was originally named in South Africa’s squad for the 2023 World Cup, but had to withdraw due to his knee injury, and he will want to perform at top-level again this season to show why he is regarded as one of the best death bowlers in the country.

Tsepo Ndwandwa

The Momentum Multiply Titans are the fourth franchise left-arm spinner Ndwandwa will represent after previous stints with the Cobras, Warriors, Knights and Lions. Another Eastern Cape product, Ndwandwa began his career with Border before moving to South-Western Districts, where he enjoyed the bulk of his success, taking 67 wickets in 22 first-class matches at an average of 27.70.

He has been a tidy performer in 50-over cricket and his career economy in the T20 format is a stingy 7.19.

Jhedli van Briesies

The 23-year-old from Mossel Bay, South-Western Districts, enjoyed a marvellous past season with the Garden Route Badgers in which he averaged 68.25 in first-class cricket, including a couple of centuries.

Van Briesies is a pleasing strokeplayer who favours the leg-side and is magnificent on the pull. He is also a tidy wicketkeeper and his arrival at the Momentum Multiply Titans, after a breakthrough season in Division II, will generate much interest.

Schooled at Langenhoven Gimnasium, Van Briesies played for the SWD Schools team for three years (2017-19) and has also played a couple of seasons of club cricket in the UK.

Lhuan-Dre Pretorius

One of the kings of junior cricket in South Africa, Pretorius successfully transitioned from U19 cricket to the senior Momentum Multiply Titans ranks last season.

The left-handed opener is still in school, doing matric at Cornwall Hill College this year, having been a dominant figure in the powerful St Stithians team, breaking the record for the most centuries for the school.

After an excellent Junior World Cup, in which he was among the top five-run-scorers with 287 at an average of 57.40 and a strike-rate of 94.09, Pretorius debuted for the Titans in the CSA T20 Challenge and scored 279 runs at a strike-rate of 119.74. While this showed the Klerksdorp-born 18-year-old is a tremendous talent, it was also the way he scored those runs that was so impressive. Renowned as a big-hitter who destroys attacks, Pretorius showed he is able to hit the ball ferociously hard and also manipulate it all around the field with sweetly-timed strokes.

His tally included two half-centuries – 58 from 43 balls against the Tuskers at SuperSport Park and a vital 52 off 32 balls in the de facto quarterfinal win over Western Province at Newlands. Pretorius also kept wicket tidily and there are high hopes he can follow in the footsteps of former Titans kingpin Quinton de Kock as a left-handed opener/wicketkeeper who became a major international star.

Roelof van der Merwe

Going into his 19^th season as a professional cricketer, Roelof van der Merwe continues to advertise his enduring passion for the game with every double fist pump wicket celebration, every lusty swing of the bat and every moment of age-defying brilliance in the field.

The veteran all-rounder is an astute signing by the Momentum Multiply Titans as he is a serial winner in the white-ball game, and a key member of the previous generation of Titans players that dominated South African domestic cricket. He last played in South Africa in 2023 when he led the Sunrisers Eastern Cape to the inaugural SA20 title and he remains a sought-after T20 player all over the world, having played in the UK, the Caribbean, the IPL, the UAE and the Big Bash. Van der Merwe is a double international, having played 26 times for the Proteas and more than 50 times for the Netherlands.

A left-arm spinner adept at keeping batsmen quiet and an aggressive batter who was good enough to score an unbeaten double-century in first-class cricket for the Titans, Van der Merwe will bring competitive fire to the team, his nickname of The Bulldog still being most apt.

Gerald Coetzee

The Momentum Multiply Titans welcomed Coetzee to SuperSport Park last season and even though he only managed to appear once for them due to Proteas commitments, when he did play the Titans ended up winners of a thrilling four-day match against Eastern Province, the former Free Stater taking four for 54 as they won by just 13 runs. Those international commitments included the 50-over World Cup, which ensured Coetzee is now well-known across the world for having plenty of wheels and the ability to take wickets, as he broke the South African record for the most dismissals (20) in a single edition of that showpiece tournament. His passion and aggression have also made him a favourite at the Wankhede Stadium following his stint for the Mumbai Indians in the IPL.

Coetzee is also a handy batsman who will rattle up quick runs in the lower-order.

Heinrich Klaasen

The way Heinrich Klaasen has grown his game in the last couple of seasons has been remarkable and he is now one of the kings of white-ball cricket globally, being one of the very best finishers around. His performance in last year’s 50-over World Cup was exceptional as he plundered 373 runs at the second-highest strike-rate of the tournament (133.21) and he continued these heroics in the T20 World Cup this year, including the fastest ever half-century in a final (27 balls).

In the last two seasons, he has scored 1065 ODI runs at an average of 48.40 and a strike-rate of 134.46, with three centuries.

The wicketkeeper/batsman is acknowledged as one of the finest players of spin in the world, and his relaxed persona belies a steely determination. When he’s not sparring with the world’s best bowlers, Klaasen loves to play for the Titans and is one of the franchise’s favourite sons with more than 8000 runs and 11 centuries for the union across all formats.

Aiden Markram

The co-captain of the Proteas alongside Temba Bavuma, Markram has been one of the great leaders of the Titans over the last decade. His captaincy credentials seem to improve with every year: having led South Africa to the U19 World Cup crown in 2014, he captained Sunrisers Eastern Cape to the title in the first two seasons of the SA20, and in 2024 he led the Proteas to an historic place in the T20 World Cup final.

In addition to his leadership skills, Markram has contributed more than 6000 runs across formats for the Titans, with 19 centuries. Many of those have come from one of the most gorgeous cover-drives in the game. The 30-year-old also contributes useful off-spin and is going to go down as one of the greatest players for the franchise, having shared in eight trophy-winning campaigns.

Part of the considerable legacy of Tuks cricket, Markram attended Pretoria Boys High and Cornwall Hill College.

Lungi Ngidi

Pace bowler Ngidi made his debut for the Titans in 2015 and burst on to the international scene in 2017 when he made his Proteas debut in a T20 against Sri Lanka and won the man of the match award. His Test debut in 2018 was even more dramatic as he took a matchwinning six for 39 against India at SuperSport Park, and then made his ODI debut against the same opponents, taking eight wickets in his first three matches.

Hailing from KZN, where he won bursaries to Highbury Prep School and Hilton College, Ngidi came to Pretoria in 2015 to play for Tuks and was an immediate success. The 28-year-old has been struck down by untimely injuries, but has still managed to take 120 wickets for the Titans across the three formats.

Ngidi is a sought-after bowler in T20 leagues around the world, thanks to his ability to surprise batsmen with incredibly skilful slower balls and cutters, making him a difficult bowler to chase after.

Tabraiz Shamsi

The left-arm wrist-spinner used to loathe being hit for boundaries, but now that he has become one of the most potent wicket-takers in international white-ball cricket, Tabraiz Shamsi knows he has the ability to dismiss any over-confident or unwatchful batsman.

His performances for the Proteas will go down in lore as he is South Africa’s highest-ever wicket-taker in T20 internationals as well as being an ever-present member of the ODI squad.

Shamsi is an experienced campaigner around the world, having played in T20 leagues in the Caribbean, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, England and the IPL. He joined the Titans in 2014/15 and enjoyed a dream second season as he spearheaded their charge to the first-class title with 41 wickets at 19.97.

The Johannesburg-born and educated star really began to blossom after the 2019 World Cup, once Imran Tahir retired from international cricket, and Shamsi’s eight for 32 against the Warriors at St George’s Park in 2020/21 are the best ever bowling figures for the Titans franchise.

Andile Phehlukwayo

After making his name in Durban for the last decade, Proteas all-rounder Andile Phehlukwayo is looking for a new challenge in Centurion with the Momentum Multiply Titans.

Phehlukwayo’s inventive seam bowling will give the Titans a skilful option in the middle and death overs of limited-overs cricket, to add to his sweet striking with the bat and ability to hit the long ball in the lower-order.

The 28-year-old has played in more than a hundred games for South Africa, in all three formats, and has played in the last two 50-over World Cups. Becoming a vital cog in the Titans outfit will go a long way to ensuring he is included in the 2027 squad for the World Cup to be played in South Africa.

Mandla Mashimbyi

The Momentum Multiply Titans head coach is an expert in boosting the sheer mentality of his players and that is shown by the four-day and T20 titles he has steered the team to since taking over from Mark Boucher midway through the 2019/20 season.

Mashimbyi’s own playing career was cut short in 2010 at the age of 29 by knee injuries, but the pace bowler took 103 wickets in 39 first-class matches for the Titans and Northerns, as well as averaging over 20 with the bat. He also played 44 one-day games while based in Centurion, helping Northerns to the three-day and one-day double in 2005/6 and captaining them to the CSA One-Day Challenge title in 2009/10.

The Phalaborwa-born Mashimbyi has also had stints at international level with the SA U19, SA A, SA Emerging and Proteas teams as an assistant coach.

Richard das Neves

Richard das Neves’ stock has risen considerably in recent years as he continues his progress into the elite coaching ranks, boosted by backroom roles with the Rajasthan Royals in the IPL and the Paarl Royals in the SA20.

As a successful former captain of the Gauteng team, Das Neves is strong on the theory behind winning cricket and strategy, and he made Easterns the kings of the second division, leading them to three titles in four seasons between 2017/18 and 2020/21. He was named Cricket South Africa’s Coach of the Year in 2020.

As a player, Das Neves was an off-spinner and useful batsman, scoring nearly a thousand first-class runs, including one century, and taking 126 wickets at an average of just 24.

The Titans assistant coach is a qualified biokineticist.

*All stats as of September 1, 2024

They may not quite have ridden a wave to success in terms of winning trophies, but our DP World Lions women’s team were deservedly buoyant at the end of a 2023/24 season that saw them finish runners-up in both the one-day and T20 competitions.

Coach Shaun Pretorius expressed his delight at the progress the team has made and said the highlight for him was the improvement shown in the 50-over game, where they mounted a stirring charge up the standings in the second half of the season. Considering they were in fifth place at the end of November, and some people may have been calling for the lifeboats, to be in contention for the title in the last round of fixtures was a remarkable effort.

“If you measure where we were last season, in the 50-over competition we were down at the bottom, then it was a massive accomplishment to finish second. The One-Day Cup was definitely the highlight for me, to come back to second and really fight for that trophy showed the immense progress we’ve made and the respect we showed the format,” Pretorius said.

“Our ground fielding improved exceptionally well, we caused a lot more run outs this season, and we also chased down more than 250 twice. We beat Western Province at Newlands, where they are normally unbeaten, and we showed great fight in the ‘final’ against the Dolphins, but unfortunately could just not get over the line.”

Pretorius says next season there will need to be a similar shoulders-to-the-wheel attitude for T20 cricket; even though the DP World Lions finished second, they were nine points behind winners Western Province, a gap they are all keen to eliminate.

“In terms of T20, there are a few more tweaks needed in our game-plan. But the buy-in was evident this season in terms of the brand we are going for. The ladies were not scared to take chances, they played with higher energy and were more positive. You could see the fight in the team, especially among the younger players,” Pretorius said.

The coach had special praise for captain Kgomotso Rapoo and the burden she bore in not only leading the team, but also the bowling attack, as well as contributing valuable runs. The young skipper, who turns 22 on May 16, was the DP World Lions’ leading wicket-taker in the one-day competition, taking 13 wickets, with the next best being Relebohile Mkhize’s seven. Spinner Rapoo also took seven T20 wickets, second-best to Mkhize’s eight, in the T20 competition, conceding just 6.00 runs an over.

Rapoo also averaged 25.25 with the bat in 50-over cricket, at a strike-rate of 87.06.

“Kgomotso was phenomenal and it’s great to see the player she is growing into,” Pretorius said. “The type of leadership she brought and her bowling really inspired the team. She just never gave up, she never believes the team is beaten and she showed that with her better than a run-a-ball half-century in the last one-day match against the Dolphins that nearly won the game after we were well out of it.”

The 2023/24 season was also a great success for veteran batter Kirstie Thomson, who showed she remains as fruitful as ever with the bat as she averaged 51.66 in the One-Day Cup and was the leading run-scorer in the T20s with 253 at an average of 42 and a strike-rate of 117.

Pretorius was also happy for Nonkululeko Thabethe, who enjoyed a vastly improved season as she topped the 50-over run-scorer’s list with 299, including three half-centuries, and also made 114 T20 runs at a strike-rate of 99.13.

For those looking to the future, there were also good contributions from Madison Landsman, Jenna Evans, Karabo Meso and Relebohile Mkhize, with Pretorius predicting a bright future for the #PrideOfJozi’s young brigade.

Any team that can call on all that talent, as well as the input of Proteas stars Ayabonga Khaka, Tumi Sekhukhune and Sinalo Jafta, and the experience of Sunette Viljoen-Louw, is bound to shine.

Pretorius said any doubts that the DP World Lions would not be at the forefront of the women’s game when it turned professional have been dispelled by the excellent season past.

“You can really see that the women’s game has been uplifted and it has been a huge accomplishment made possible by all the support we have received from the management and staff of the DP World Lions,” Pretorius said.

The cricket season just past has seen Wiaan Mulder freed from his cell of self-imposed pressure and doubt, and the Central Gauteng Lions all-rounder’s reward has been a return to the Proteas T20 squad, albeit for the warm-up series against the West Indies in Jamaica at the end of this month and not the World Cup.

The Lions were the outstanding domestic team of the summer, winning both the four-day competition and the CSA T20 Challenge that ended last weekend in a final at the Wanderers, with the Gautengers easing past the KZN Dolphins by seven wickets with 14 balls to spare.

Mulder was at the forefront of that successful chase, blazing his way to a ferocious 55 not out off just 26 balls, with four sixes. It capped a superb tournament for the 26-year-old, who scored 248 runs at an average of 35.42 and a strike-rate of 139.32. Mulder also took 11 wickets and conceded just 7.10 runs-per-over, making him the only player to appear in the top-20 of both the batting and bowling averages.

It followed his destructive performances in the SA20 league, where he scored 297 runs at an average of 37.13 and a strike-rate of 157.14 for Durban Super Giants.

In the Lions’ triumphant four-day campaign, Mulder was their leading run-scorer with 549 at 54.90, which included a couple of centuries. He also claimed 16 wickets at an average of 26.50.

Little wonder then that the Proteas have come calling again. He played in the ODI series against India last December, but Mulder is set to play his first T20 international since September 2021 in Sri Lanka.

But in a candid interview before his selection was announced this week, Mulder admitted that he had not made the most of his previous Proteas call-ups.

“The biggest thing for me at international level is mental. I tend to put a lot of pressure on myself, which is made worse when you think every game could be my last,” Mulder said after the Lions’ T20 triumph.

“I do my best when I am just given the freedom to go out and play; unfortunately I’m an over-thinker and then I try too hard and get a bit down on myself. I’ve done relatively well with the ball for the Proteas, but I haven’t really shown what I can do with the bat. But maybe my time will come in the next couple of years,” Mulder said.

The all-rounder’s mantle is a tough one to bear in South African cricket because we have been blessed with arguably the greatest of them all – Jacques Kallis – as well as a succession of legends who could both win matches with the bat and double as a proper fast bowler: Mike Procter, Clive Rice, Kallis, Lance Klusener and Shaun Pollock have spoilt us.

Mulder does not bowl express pace, but he is a very handy practitioner who can fulfil a variety of roles. The St Stithians product says the presence of another great – Allan Donald – on the Lions coaching staff has helped him enormously in terms of growing his skills and even becoming a little quicker.

“Allan Donald has been massive for us and for me personally. I’ve been working with him to get more energy behind the ball, being able to bowl back-of-the-hand deliveries. It’s difficult bowling in the powerplay at the Wanderers, the ball really flies here, so I’ve had to up-skill a lot.

“I feel like I’m bowling well and it’s nice to be consistently bowling. Not bowling five matches in a row in the SA20 gets a little frustrating,” Mulder said.

The up-skilling Mulder has done on his batting will also hopefully pay off at international level.

“Russell Domingo [head coach] said there were certain things that have to get better in our game and there was an expectation to up-skill. There was a lot of hard work in the transition period after he became coach.

“And you could see when Reeza Hendricks and I were batting together in the final, we made sure the required rate never ran away from us even though we weren’t hitting boundaries. We were getting the ones and twos and making sure there were no dot-balls,” Mulder said.