Janneman Malan and Keegan Petersen earn CSA contracts for 2022-23
Beuran Hendricks and Heinrich Klaasen have been dropped from the 16-man list
ESPNcricinfo staff
18-Mar-2022
Janneman Malan has made a bright start to his ODI career, scoring 759 runs in 13 innings at an average of 69.00 • Gallo Images/Getty Images
Janneman Malan and Keegan Petersen are the new faces in CSA's list of contracted men's players for the 2022-23 season. The two from last year's list to miss out are left-arm seamer Beuran Hendricks and wicketkeeper-batter Heinrich Klaasen.
Malan and Petersen have been rewarded for making excellent starts to their South Africa careers in white- and red-ball cricket respectively. Malan has been outstanding at the top of the order in ODIs since his debut in February 2019, scoring 759 runs in 13 innings at an average of 69.00, with three hundreds and a best of 177 not out against Ireland. Those run-scoring feats also won him the ICC's award for Emergin Men's Cricketer of the Year for 2021.
Petersen, meanwhile, was Player of the Series in South Africa's 2-1 comeback win over India at home earlier this year, contributing 276 runs at 46.00 and scoring three fifties in six innings in consistently difficult batting conditions. In the process, he caught the eye of numerous observers including AB de Villiers, who took to Twitter to enthuse about the "composure, skill and technique" Petersen had shown "against one of the best attacks in the world."
In five Tests so far, Petersen has scored 320 runs at an average of 35.55.
"It has been an exceptional season for the white-ball team that has not lost a series under the leadership of Temba Bavuma," CSA's newly appointed CEO Pholetsi Moseki said. "One of the biggest upcoming highlights for us is the 2022 ICC T20 World Cup in Australia and we are looking forward to supporting Temba and his men as they look to make history later this year.
"The Test team has grown and shown significant improvement under the strong leadership of Dean Elgar. This season will see the Proteas play even more Test cricket, which is vital for the growth of the players, the format in our country, as well as the accumulation of points towards the ICC World Test Championship.
"We at CSA are big advocates of rewarding excellence and I am pleased to be the first to congratulate Janneman Malan and Keegan Petersen on their newly awarded contracts."
The contracts for South Africa's women's players will be announced after the conclusion of the ongoing ODI World Cup in New Zealand.