Star pace bowler Anrich Nortje and Quinton de Kock have been left out of the men’s central contract for the year 2024-25. It is a massive blow for both players as Nortje has not played in international cricket for the country for a long time.
The new entrant for the central contract is Tony de Zorzi and Nandie Burger. De Zorzi made his Test debut against West Indies at home last year. After this, he played two more test matches against the Indian team. Zorzi managed to score 145 runs in four matches with the best score of 85.
Nandie Burger made his Test debut against India at home and created enough pressure on the Indian batters with sharp bouncers making life tough for top-quality Indian batters. Dean Elgar (retired), Quinton de Kock, Magala, Anrich Nortje, Wayne Parnell, and Keegan Petersen are not part of the contract list this season. Nortje has been out of action since the 2023 World Cup and has not played the entire home season.
Nortje is likely to feature in IPL 2024 for Delhi Capitals to push his case for the T20 World Cup to be played in the USA and West Indies in June.
Quinton de Kock’s inclusion is uncertain for T20 World Cup 2024
Quinton de Kock announced his retirement from ODI cricket after the 2023 World Cup played in India last year. He skipped the home T20I series against India and decided to play the Big Bash League for Melbourne Renegades.
De Kock struggled in BBL 13 with 104 runs from 6 matches with a best score of 30. He looked slightly better in the SA T20 tournament 2024 with 213 runs from 12 innings with one fifty. His spot in the T20 World Cup 2024 starting from 2nd June looks uncertain. De Kock performed brilliantly during the shorter format with 2277 runs from 80 matches including 1 century and 14 half-centuries to his name.
Here we look at the South African players with contract lists for 2024-25:
Temba Bavuma, Nandre Burger, Gerald Coetzee, Tony de Zorzi, Bjorn Fortuin, Reeza Hendricks, Marco Jansen, Klassen, Keshav Maharaj, Aiden Markram, David Miller, Lungi Ngidi, Andile Phehlukwayo, Kagiso Rabada, Ryan Rickleton, Shamsi, Tristian Stubbs, Rassie Van der Dussen.
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