It may not be the West Indies team that has boasted the likes of feared speedsters like Malcolm Marshall, Curtly Ambrose, Michael Holding or Courtney Walsh, but whenever the Windies tour South Africa it is always a highly entertaining spectacle of cricket.
For me, personally it is always a joy to see the Caribbean team in our country.
The tour bowls off on December 17 at Centurion, besides a three-day warm-up match against an SA Invitational Team at Willowmoore Park in Benoni from December 10 to December 13.
The teams (South Africa and the Windies) will play three Test matches, three Twenty20 Internationals and five One-Day matches.
There were doubts that the scheduled tour would not go ahead due to a salary dispute between the players and the West Indies Cricket Board during the ODI serious with India in October.
While negotiations with the board continue it seems that the players have put their faith in a successful outcome.
With Darren Bravo (personal reasons) and Chris Gayle (injury) not playing in the Test matches the selectors have chosen some young players to fill their respective boots.
Meanwhile, on the South African front, the number one best Test squad in the world has also gone for youth selections and it seems that the exciting Cobras batsman Stiaan van Zyl will finally get his debut in the first match.
He will also be the only player in the Test squad to feature in the three-day match in Benoni following a leg injury that his sidelined him in the last six weeks.
The Proteas have also called up u-19 World Cup star fast bowler Kagiso Rabada as well as the Lions’ exhilarating Themba Bavuma who shone in the recent South Africa A team’s tour of Australia where he scored 217 runs at an average of 108.50 in the two matches that were played.
Overall, cricket lovers are in for a treat this festive season.
The tour schedule is as follows:
Wed Dec 10 – Fri Dec 12 (10:30am): South African Invitation XI v West Indians, Willowmoore Park, Benoni.
Wed Dec 17 – Sun Dec 21 (10:30am) First Test – South Africa v West Indies, SuperSport Park, Centurion.
Fri Dec 26 – Tue Dec 30 (10:30am) Second Test – South Africa v West Indies, St George’s Park, Port Elizabeth.
Fri Jan 2 – Tue Jan 6 (10:30am), Third Test – South Africa v West Indies, Newlands, Cape Town.
Fri Jan 9 (6pm) First T20I – South Africa v West Indies, Newlands, Cape Town.
Sun Jan 11 (3pm) Second T20I – South Africa v West Indies, New Wanderers Stadium, Johannesburg.
Wed Jan 14 (3pm) Third T20I – South Africa v West Indies, Kingsmead, Durban.
Fri Jan 16 (1.30pm) First ODI – South Africa v West Indies, Kingsmead, Durban.
Sun Jan 18 (10am) Second ODI – South Africa v West Indies, New Wanderers Stadium, Johannesburg.
Wed Jan 21 (1.30pm) Third ODI – South Africa v West Indies, Buffalo Park, East London.
Sun Jan 25 (10am) Fourth ODI – South Africa v West Indies, St George’s Park, Port Elizabeth.
Jan 28, (1.30pm), Fifth ODI – South Africa v West Indies, SuperSport Park, Centurion.
SA Invitation squad (to play in Benoni): Dominic Hendricks (Highveld Lions, capt), Gihahn Cloete (Knights), Darryn DuPavillon (Dolphins), Rabian Engelbrecht (Dolphins), Clyde Fortuin (Cape Cobras), Beuran Hendricks (Cape Cobras), Rory Kleinveldt (Cape Cobras), Aviwe Ngijima (Western Province), Mangaliso Mosehle (Titans), Jerry Nqolo (Border), Keagan Petersen (Cape Cobras), Tabraiz Shamzi (Titans), Stiaan van Zyl (Cape Cobras).
West Indies Test squad: Denesh Ramdin (captain), Sulieman Benn, Jermaine Blackwood, Kraigg Braithwaite, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Sheldon Cottrell, Shannon Gabriel, Chris Gayle, Jason Holder, Leon Johnson, Kemar Roach, Marlon Samuels, Jerome Taylor, Chadwick Walton.
Proteas Test squad: Hashim Amla (capt), AB de Villiers (vice-capt), Alviro Petersen, Dean Elgar, Faf du Plessis, Stiaan van Zyl, Quinton de Kock, Vernon Philander, Robin Peterson, Dale Steyn, Morne Morkel, Temba Bavuma, Kyle Abbott, Kagiso Rabada
