South Africa are placed in Pool A alongside Hong Kong China and New Zealand.
South Africa are one of 12 teams participating in the upcoming edition of the Hong Kong Sixes tournament, scheduled to take place from November 1 to November 3 in Mong Kok. They are placed in Pool A alongside Hong Kong China and New Zealand.
South Africa’s squad for the Hong Kong Sixes tournament includes a mix of players with domestic experience, such as Aubrey Swanepoel, and a few like JJ Smuts, who have represented the national team. It also features newcomers like Luthando Midiri, who have no domestic experience.
Let’s analyse each player separately and discuss them in detail from South Africa squad.
Jon-Jon Smuts is an aggressive, clean-hitting opening batter, and is also the most experienced player in the squad. He will be leading the South African side in this tournament and will be the key player with both bat and ball for his team.
JJ Smuts made his international debut on 2017 has played 13 T20Is and 6 ODIs for South Africa where he has scored 174 runs and 180 runs respectively. He has been a veteran in domestic cricket as he has played 116 first class matches where he has scored 6272 runs at an avg of 33.01 and a strike rate of 60.44 and has also taken 206 wickets.
In list A he has played 159 matches, scored 5172 runs at an avg of 36.42 and a strike rate of 82.50 along with 113 wickets. His domestic T20 record has also been very good where he had played for different franchises and has recorded 217 matches, scored 4859 runs at an avg of 25.98 and a strike rate of 124.91 along with 123 wickets.
The 21-yr old fast bowler, has represented South Africa in the U-19 Cricket World cup in 2022 where he took 10 wickets in 6 matches. He can be a vital player for South Africa in this tournament with his fast bowling.
He does not have too much experience as he is still young but has played 2 first class matches, 5 list A matches and 7 T20s till now.
Evan Jones hasn’t represented South Africa at the international level but has played franchise cricket in the SA20 league for Paarl Royals, where he featured in 11 matches and took 15 wickets. He will be another key bowler in this tournament. His SA20 batting stats don’t indicate that he is a batting all-rounder, but his domestic career suggests otherwise.
Jones has played 12 first-class matches, scoring 824 runs at an average of 63.38 and a strike rate of 84.77, along with taking 23 wickets. In List A cricket, he has played 21 matches, scoring 439 runs at an average of 33.76 and a strike rate of 110.85, while also claiming 12 wickets. In T20s, he has featured in 43 matches, scoring 527 runs at an average of 23.95 and a strike rate of 138.32, alongside taking 42 wickets.
Luthando Midiri is one of the cricketers who will represent South Africa in the tournament. He bowls right arm medium pace and bats right-handed. Not much is known of this player except for that. It will be interesting to see when he gets the chance to play and how he will perform.
Right-arm medium fast bowler Don Radebe remains uncapped at international level but has decent experience at domestic level representing Limpopo. The 27-year-old represents his side with 3 first class matches, 6 List A games, and 23 T20s with 2, 14, and 36 wickets respectively.
Radebe will feature for South Africa as a bowler in this tournament. The experience which he has gained domestically, especially in the shorter formats, may come in handy for him.
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Jacques is a 30-year-old batting all-rounder who has thus far played only one T20I for South Africa. He has been decently experienced in domestic cricket featuring in 39 first-class and 54 List A games and 52 appearances in T20. He has thus far scored 2,683 runs alongside 42 wickets in first-class cricket, 1,957 runs alongside 39 wickets in List A, and 1,167 runs alongside 18 wickets in T20s.
Jacques started his home career with Northern Cape but now represents the Knights. In the World Champions of Legends tournament conducted earlier in the year, he attracted notice with scores of 82* and 73 against Pakistan and India, respectively, as South Africa won both matches.
Aubrey Swanepoel, 35 yrs old, brings loads of experience to the squad, standing out as one of the key players alongside JJ Smuts. Although he hasn’t represented South Africa at the international level, he has built an impressive domestic career over the years.
With bat and ball, Swanepoel can be handy as an all-rounder. He has played 133 first class matches, scoring 6,619 runs and taking 176 wickets. In List A cricket, he has 2,526 runs and 107 wickets in 125 matches.
Swanepoel has also impressed in T20 cricket, playing 101 matches and scoring 1,352 runs at a strike rate of 133.07 and taking 56 wickets. Going by his all-round talent, he will definitely be one of the most vital players for South Africa in the tournament.
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