Cape Town — Michigan During the 2018 SA20 tournament, Cape Town’s head coach Simon Katich hopes to transform Newlands into a fortress.
Katich, who formerly resided in the visitors’ dressing room at the scenic location under Table Mountain with the Australian national team, will relocate to the home dressing room in January.
Originating in Perth, Western Australia, before relocating to Sydney with New South Wales, the tenacious former left-hander is familiar with the strain of the locals’ desire to cheer for a winning side.
Katich has certainly assembled a formidable MI Cape Town squad, which features the exciting talents of pre-selected Kagiso Rabada, Rashid Khan, Sam Curran, and Liam Livingstone, as well as the additions of Rassie van der Dussen, George Linde, Ryan Rickleton, Beuran Hendricks, and West Indian Odean Smith, among others.
Katich expects his players to feed off of the electric atmosphere created by the plethora of talent on display at Newlands once the match begins.
“It’s a lot like home in Australia, so that’s OK with me,” Katich remarked. “Newlands is a great arena. I believe that, from a playing standpoint, playing at home and maybe early in the tournament will hopefully get us off to a good start, depending on how the tournament unfolds.”
Katich was aided by Sri Lankan icon and MI global head of performance Mahela Jayawardene and former Proteas all-rounder and MI Cape Town general manager Robin Peterson.
When it came to the signing of local uncapped players such as Duan Jansen, Delano Potgieter, Grant Roelofsen, Wesley Marshall, and Ziyaad Abrahams, Peterson’s influence was clearly valued.
“We have attempted to recruit local players for our team. “Like any other advantage, we want to maximize it at home with the correct balance of our team, and as the caravan travels to other sites, we want to ensure that we still have the right balance to be successful there as well,” Katich added.
“I believe this is going to be a very exciting tournament, and I believe that the quality of the local players that we saw today, as well as the influx of overseas players and the experience they bring not only on the field, but also off the field and in helping to develop some of the younger players in our squad, will be to the squad’s great benefit.”
@ZaahierAdams