Story audio is generated using AI
By Stuart HessExactly how many spinners and what the combination will be in the Proteas World Cup squad next year remains open to debate, with the national team’s head coach declaring “the race is on” for places, starting with next week’s tour to Namibia.It wouldn’t be the first time Shukri Conrad tried lighting a fire under some players, and certainly for the trio of spinners included in the squad for the T20 triangular series, followed by a One-Day International series against Namibia, motivation shouldn’t be hard to attain. Bjorn Fortuin, who will captain the team, has 43 international caps in the limited-overs formats but hasn’t featured regularly at the international level, while Prenelan Subrayen had his Proteas career briefly curtailed by concerns over his bowling action, and Nqaba Peter hasn’t evolved as quickly as initially hoped. Peter burst onto the scene in 2024, taking 20 wickets and helping the DP World Lions to victory in the T20 Challenge. One month later, he made his T20 International debut in Jamaica. However, both his international and domestic careers have unfolded sluggishly. An injured shoulder — typical for a leg-spinner — and a failure to add more variety to his bowling have made it easy for batters who have faced him.But Cricket SA can’t afford not to back him. “Wrist-spinners are a rare breed, and they take a bit of time [to develop],” Conrad said this week.Peter has played four ODIs and 12 T20s; toured Pakistan, Australia, the West Indies and Zimbabwe with the Proteas; and taken a total of 15 wickets. He also travelled to England earlier this year with the South African A side, claiming three wickets in two One-Day matches there. “He is definitely someone we have our eye on going forward. We don’t have a wrist-spinner, and we see the value of wrist-spin in T20 and ODI cricket. This is a great opportunity for Nqaba to get back on the horse again. We will provide him with all the opportunities.”Being a leg-spinner is an important point of difference for Peter. South Africa is overflowing with left-arm spinners, led by Keshav Maharaj, with Senuran Muthusamy being another who impressed in the past year. Fortuin, who is getting more opportunities with the Proteas and South Africa A; George Linde, who was part of the T20 World Cup squad; and Kyle Simmonds, a consistent performer for Western Province who was also called up to the South Africa A one-day squad to face Bangladesh A adds to a lengthy list of southpaw tweakers.🚨 SQUAD ANNOUNCEMENT 🚨South Africa A (SA ‘A’) are set to host Bangladesh A in a two-match four-day series from 23 August - 02 September, before contesting a three-match one-day series from 06 - 12 September.Warriors seamer Matthew Boast and Boland batter Gavin Kaplan are… pic.twitter.com/HjZazZxi10— Proteas Men (@ProteasMenCSA) August 12, 2026
