Quinton Friend has been appointed as the new coach of the Hollywoodbets Dolphins. Photo: Dolphins/Facebook
Newly appointed head coach Quinton Friend has mixed youth and experience in an exciting squad that will get the season underway this weekend as the Dolphins attempt to go one better than last season – where they lost in the final of the T20 competition.
With a handful of players away on international duty, Friend has included a selection of youngsters in the Dolphins squad including High Performance stars Slade van Staden and Banele Cele as well as recently contracted SA Under 19 all-rounder Romashan Pillay.
One of the exciting inclusions in the squad is Northwood High School and SA Under 19 quick bowler Nqobani Mokoena who will get his first taste of a professional squad environment when he travels with the team to the Eastern Cape.
Talking about his squad, Friend says that they have got their bases covered for the competition despite not having their Proteas players in the mix.
“I am happy with the balance that we have in the squad and excitingly with our Proteas away it gives us a chance to have a look at our depth and give those High-Performance players a chance,” Friend said.
“It’s important that we dig a little bit deeper and provide these youngsters with opportunities to showcase their talent and skill.
“From a squad perspective we are in a very good place and we’re very excited to get going. The preparation has gone really well and it’s time for us to hit the ground running.”
The Dolphins made the final of an extended version of the CSA T20 Challenge last season, however Friend highlights the importance of a good start in this season’s truncated tournament.
“We’ve had several warm-up games and our internal T20 Bash competition, so the guys have played around 10 matches already.
“Last season we had a slow start to the T20 competition and with only seven games in this competition you must almost be playing your best cricket at the start of the tournament.
“We want to start on the front foot early which will hopefully give us the momentum we need to go through the competition.”
In preparation for the new campaign, Friend felt that the side needed to play more competitive cricket in the lead-up to the season. With this in mind the team has been busy with a good block of warm-up matches.
“We wanted to get the guys match fit early and so we had three warm-up matches against the Tuskers and three against the Knights as well.
“The guys were also involved in the Castle Corner Big Bash which saw them playing with our best club, schoolboy and high-performance players.
“This workload has been really good, and I think it will stand us in good stead going into the new campaign starting this weekend.”
Experienced off-spinner Prenelan Subrayen will captain the Dolphins side in the T20 Challenge.
Hollywoodbets Dolphins v Dafabet Warriors Squad
Brad Porteous, Prenelan Subrayen (c), Banele Cele, Slade Van Staden, Bryce Parsons, Nqobani Mokoena, Jon-Jon Smuts, Tshepang Dithole, Eathan Bosch, Khaya Zondo, Romashan Pillay, Okuhle Cele, Marques Ackerman.