SA men's U19s set to tour Bangladesh in July to prepare for 2024 World Cup

The tour will form of the long-term preparations for the 2024 World Cup that takes place in Sri Lanka next year.

The announcement follows a four-day selection camp which was held at the Centre of Excellence in Pretoria last week overseen by former Proteas assistant coach Malibongwe Maketa.

The 2022 U19 World Cup alumni Liam Alder and Kwena Maphaka have been included in the squad while Dewan Marais, Juan James, David Teegar and Richard Seletswane, who were part of the junior Proteas team to win last season's CSA T20 Knockout competition are also selected.

The tour to Bangladesh will take place from 03 - 18 July with the itinerary to be finalised in the coming weeks.

SA U19s convenor of selectors Patrick Moroney commented: "Firstly, I would like to congratulate each of the players on their selection for the tour.

"It is through our Talent Acceleration Program (TAP) that these players have been identified, with most of them having competed in the Khaya Majola and Cubs Weeks last season.

"We're excited by the quality of players emerging from our youth pipeline and we have identified a great blend of players for this tour to Bangladesh, with two of them (Liam Alder and Kwena Maphaka) bringing international experience after playing in last year's U19 World Cup in the West Indies.

"While this tour will give us a good idea of the character of the players, it will also give the players an opportunity to put their skills to the test in similar playing conditions to those of next year™s World Cup in Sri Lanka.

"We recently had a change in management, with Malibongwe Maketa taking over from Shukri Conrad as head coach of the SA U19s, and the players have adapted extremely well to Mali and his coaching staff, and particularly enjoyed the selection camp this week," Moroney concluded.

SA U19 squad: Liam Alder (Warriors), Esa Gangat (Eastern Province), Thebe Gazide (Lions), Bennie Hansen (Western Province), Juan James (Western Province), Tristan Luus (Titans), Kwena Maphaka (Lions), Dewan Marias (Easterns), Romashan Pillay (KwaZulu-Natal Coastal), Sipho Potsane (Lions), Lhuan-dre Pretorius (Lions), Richard Seletswane (Lions), David Teeger (Lions), Johnathan van Zyl (KwaZulu-Natal Inland) and Oliver Whitehead (Western Province)

Non-traveling reserves: Martin Khumalo (Easterns), Riley Norton (Boland) and Ntando Zuma (KwaZulu-Natal Inland)

Management team: Malibongwe Maketa (Head Coach), Blanche Conradie (Team Manager), Thabang Kumalo (Fielding Coach), Justin Sammons (Batting Coach), Rory Kleinveldt (Bowling Coach), Curtly Diesel (Strength and Conditioning Coach), Sheenagh Jordaan (Physiotherapist) and Kyle Southgate (Performance Analyst)