JOHANNESBURG – The South Africa under-19s have hit the ground running on the first day of their last camp ahead of the ICC Under-19 World Cup at the Cricket South Africa (CSA) Centre of Excellence in Pretoria on Tuesday.
The biennial tournament will see the youngsters battle it out against 15 other teams for championship rights in the 12th edition of the competition beginning on January 13. Titleholders, West Indies, hosts, New Zealand and Kenya make up Group A along with South Africa.
Coach, Lawrence Mahatlane is pleased to see that his players have maintained their fitness levels after the team went their separate ways at the end of the England and Namibia triangular series. He believes that the team is well on the right track heading into the contest.
“One of the keys for us was to give the players and active rest over the last two weeks and I am very happy with where they are,” he said. “A lot of the guys after the triangular series went on to play in the Coca-Cola Khaya Majola Week, while others played in senior provincial or franchise matches, so I’m happy with the amount of game time they’ve had and also the rest in between.
“Today was a long day, from a coaching point of view we tried to go through all our disciplines and processes and I’m very happy with where the guys are. I think all-round, just in terms of clear mind-set, what their game plans are and the fitness levels that they’ve managed to maintain, we are headed in the right direction as the World Cup approaches.”
African News Agency (ANA)