Migael Pretorius

A swing-bowling allrounder, who can bat in the top six, Migael Pretorius is an experienced player who came to prominence in his late 20s.

Raised in a sports loving family in Vereeniging, south of Johannesburg, his cricketing journey began at the Bakers' Mini-Cricket camps alongside his twin brother Kristiaan. Their father built them a concrete net in the back garden and Pretorius spent his time working on bowling skills. He played for the first team at Waterkloof High and was included in the Northerns academy thereafter, with his path to professionalism seemingly laid out. Pretorius impressed in his first season, where he was the leading wicket-taker in the three-day first-class competition - the second tier of South Africa's domestic set up - with 42 wickets from 10 matches. However, he could not make the first-tier Titans teams and over the next six years moved to Lions, North West and eventually Knights, where under the mentorship of Allan Donald, he worked on his bowling variations.

He was named in South Africa's Test squad to play Sri Lanka in 2020, as extra cover during the Covid-19 pandemic, in a season where he was among the leading bowlers at domestic level. He finished as the fifth-highest bowler in the 2020-21 first-class competition. He played for the Jamaica Tallawahs in the CPL in 2021 and 2022, and for Durham and Somerset in 2023 season and 2024 respectively. He was recalled to South Africa's Test squad against West Indies in August 2024.
Firdose Moonda