George van Heerden to lead South Africa Under-19 in 2022 World Cup

Warriors batter George van Heerden will lead the South Africa Under-19 side in the World Cup early next year in the Caribbean. They will also take part in a pre-World Cup bilateral tour against West Indies in December to prepare for the global event.

The squad of 15 also features Titans batter Dewald Brevis, who had impressed recently in the CSA Provincial T20 Knockout competition, and Western Province's Asakhe Tsaka, who finished with an economy rate of 6.42 in the tournament.

van Heerden recently led the Under-19 squad in the CSA Provincial T20 Cup when they took on Easterns, North West and Dolphins.

"The process of putting this group of players together is only the pinnacle of the work that started as far back as three years ago when some of these players were exposed to the CSA Talent Acceleration Programme (TAP) for the first time," South Africa Under-19s convenor of selectors, Patrick Moroney said.

"All these players played in the CSA Cubs week hosted in January earlier this year. Covid has played a big part in things being different, especially taking into account the schools cricket programme where schools play each other on a week-to-week basis that could not take place because of Covid. But taking all into account I believe that we have managed to select a team that will be competitive at the World Cup in the West Indies."

Head coach Shukri Conrad said: "We have a lot of exciting players in our group, and I am certain they will be well-led by George van Heerden.

"I want us to have the courage of our convictions. Have the courage to play the way we have practised, to follow the philosophy that we have set out and, hopefully, we can adapt, depending on what conditions are prevalent in the West Indies, both on the tour and the World Cup.

"The World Cup is the priority, but we also have a series to the West Indies that we'd like to win. It is also great preparation for the boys. I would like to see our boys continue the work; we still have a little bit of work to do before we get there and once there, to go out and have the courage to play the way we want to play.

"Ultimately, I believe if we do that enough, then we will be victorious. We are certainly not going there as a side who wants to just compete, or a side just thrilled to be there, we want to not only give a good account of ourselves but also get into the play-off stages and win tournaments.

"That's a long way away, but if we follow the building blocks, we will be alright."

Squad for World Cup: George van Heerden (capt), Liam Alder, Matthew Boast, Dewald Brevis, Michael Copeland, Ethan Cunningham, Valentine Kitime, Kwena Maphaka, Gerhard Maree, Aphiwe Mnyanda, Andile Simelane, Jade Smith, Kaden Solomons, Joshua Stephenson, Asakhe Tshaka. Travelling reserves: Hardus Coetzer, Ronan Hermann, Caleb Seleka.

Squad for West Indies bilateral tour: George van Heerden (capt), Liam Alder, Matthew Boast, Dewald Brevis, Michael Copeland, Ethan Cunningham, Valentine Kitime, Kwena Maphaka, Gerhard Maree, Aphiwe Mnyanda, Andile Simelane, Jade Smith, Kaden Solomons, Joshua Stephenson, Asakhe Tshaka.