North West Cricket finalising player contracts

North West Cricket (NWC) officials are putting the final touches on player contracts and are set to conclude all the deals before the end of the week.

TimesLIVE has seen a list of 16 players who are under consideration.

Slow left-arm orthodox spinner Senuran Muthusamy‚ one of the stars for the victorious Dolphins in the CSA 4-Day Domestic Series final that saw the end of the franchise era‚ is on the list.

Wicketkeeper/batsman Nicky van den Bergh and his Lions teammates Nono Pongolo [seamer]‚ Wesley Marshall [batsman]‚ Delano Potgieter [batsman] and Eldred Hawken [seamer] will also play their cricket in Potchefstroom.

Also on the list are former Titans star Heino Kuhn [batsman/wicketkeeper]‚ Lesego Senokwane [bat/seam]‚ Shaylen Pillay [seam/bat]‚ Eben Botha [batsman]‚ Johannes Diseko [slow left-arm orthodox]‚ Duan Jansen [seamer]‚ Chad Claasen [seamer], batsman/wicketkeeper Jason Oakes, fast bowler Lwandiswa Zuma and off-spinner Ndumiso Mvelase.

NWC CEO HP Prinsloo decline to elaborate on whether the union is in talks with the 16 players but he did confirm that all the contracts will be concluded before the end of this week.

“We are still finalising‚” Prinsloo told TimesLIVE. “Will be able to comment by tomorrow [Wednesday] or Thursday.”

NWC were last month announced as one of the eight teams that will play in Division 1 after Cricket SA’s (CSA's) restructuring of the domestic playing structure.

Boland‚ Eastern Province‚ Gauteng‚ Free State‚ KwaZulu-Natal Coastal‚ Northerns and Free State were named as the teams in the top tier Division 1 of the new structure.

Border‚ Easterns‚ Limpopo‚ KwaZulu-Natal Inland‚ Mpumalanga‚ Northern Cape and South Western Districts were announced as Division 2 teams.

CSA announced that there will be automatic relegation‚ but only after the first two seasons to allow the teams in both divisions to consolidate and stabilise in the new structure.