Academy intake announced for winter

The United Cricket Board of South Africa has named the 18 players who will attend the 2006 National Academy, based at the High Performance Centre at the University of Pretoria.

Dean Elgar, the captain of the South Africa U-19 team at the World Cup in Sri Lanka, is among the names and he is joined by youngsters who have shown promise at various age groups and in first-class cricket.

Anton Ferreira, the UCBSA national coaching manager and head of the National Academy, said: "The squad of 18 represents the 11th intake of this UCBSA's elite player development programme and will be the third at the high performance centre at Tuks.

"These players all have first-class experience at either amateur provincial or franchise professional levels and the majority have already started making their mark in a big way in various senior competitions.

"The four-month academy will provide an intensive and extensive approach to their development both in cricket and life skills. We want to build their all-round capacities in order to enable them to meet the challenges of the next level of cricket."

Squad Keegan Africa, Craig Alexander, Farhaan Behardien, Werner Coetsee, Dillon du Preez, Dean Elgar, Robert Frylinck, Heino Kuhn, Corne Linde, Sadi Mhlongo, Hillroy Paulse, Abdul Hack Razzak, Pepler Sandri, Blake Snijman, Abongile Sodumo, Dominic Telo, Craig Thyssen