New chapter for Warriors
THE Chevrolet Warriors face a fresh start in the Sunfoil Series when interim cricket coach Malibongwe Maketa takes charge of his first game against the Dolphins in Pietermaritzburg, starting today.
Having grown up in King William's Town, Maketa turned out for Border and has built up his coaching experience since then.
He began coaching in schools cricket and then served as assistant coach to both Richard Pybus and Matthew Maynard at the Titans, won a few trophies as coach of Northerns, and was assistant to Piet Botha, who resigned last week.
Botha will stay on with the Warriors as technical adviser, with Maketa taking the reins for the rest of the season.
"I'm wearing a different hat, but I've worked with the guys for a season and a half so we're quite familiar with each other," Maketa said.
"I'm on a different podium now so some of them might still have to get used to it, but I've been [here] before so it's no problem for me."
After a disappointing season so far, which has seen the Warriors, under the captaincy of Colin Ingram, lose both their Sunfoil Series games and struggle in the shorter formats, Maketa says his emphasis has been on getting the basics right again.
He will be without Rusty Theron, who is working on strengthening his knee in the hope of making a full comeback next year, but the Warriors will welcome opener David White back from a long-term injury and are hopeful that Wayne Parnell will overcome a stomach bug.
The Dolphins have played no four- day cricket this season due to their Champions League T20 commitments, and coach Lance Klusener feels the change in format could serve them well.
"It's a nice change for us because we've been playing limited-overs cricket for three months, so it is something fresh and maybe what we need," he said.
The Dolphins have lost Kyle Abbott to Proteas duty, but will have David Miller and Imran Tahir available for today's clash.
In Bloemfontein, the Knights – mentally bruised by the disappointment of their Ram Slam Twenty20 final defeat – also have a few physical injuries to contend with for their game against the Titans.
The Knights return to a competition in which they top the log, but do so without some key players.
"Rilee [Rossouw] is still struggling with that finger of his, so under the medical committee's advice [we won't] play him in the two Sunfoil Series games so he can get ready for the West Indies T20 series," Knights coach Sarel Cilliers said.
Dillon du Preez, who took a five- wicket haul in his last Sunfoil Series outing, will also be rested as he continues to struggle with a foot injury, while Tumelo Bodibe has an injured shoulder.
"The good thing is that Pite van Biljon has been scoring runs for Free State, Corne Dry and Duanne Olivier have been bowling well, as has Tumi Masekela, so we do at least have options," Cilliers said.
The Titans have also had some changes. Dean Elgar is on Proteas duty, but Marchant de Lange and David Wiese are back in the frame.
Elgar's absence could be keenly felt by a side which have struggled with their opening combination, but the Titans have handed the responsibility to Theunis de Bruyn, 22.
"Theunis is going to open the batting along with Heino [Kuhn], and Henry [Davids] is back so he'll come into the top order," Titans coach Rob Walter said.
In Cape Town, Richard Levi will return to South African first-class cricket after a gap of almost two years when the Cape Cobras host the Highveld Lions.
Levi did not turn out for the Cobras in last season's triumphant Sunfoil Series campaign, mostly because of a lengthy injury, but scored 121 in 159 balls in his last four-day outing for his franchise, which saw the Cobras beat the Knights by 10 wickets and clinch the 2012-13 title.
With Stiaan van Zyl called up to make his Proteas debut and Levi, 26 in red-hot form in the Ram Slam T20, where he was the top run-scorer, he will have the chance to make an impact in the longer form of the game.
