Photo Credit: Western Province Cricket Association
Six Gun Grill Western Province today confirmed that wicket-keeper batsman Daniel Smith has been promoted from the WP Academy to the professional team with immediate effect.
The former South African U19 Captain made his T20 debut for the professional team during the CSA T20 Knockout Challenge in September and made his first-class debut against the Momentum Multiply Titans in November, scoring a half-century to top off an excellent debut and Coach Salieg Nackerdien is positive that the former title-winning Cobras Cubs captain has a bright future at the province.
“With Kyle (Verreynne) away with the national team, it provides a huge opportunity for Daniel to take the step up from our Academy to the professional setup,” he said.
“I am extremely grateful for the opportunity that WP has given me. It has always been a childhood dream of mine to represent such a special union. I am looking forward to growing my game and learning from the management staff and the players. It is an exciting time, and I am really looking forward to the rest of the season and to see what we as a group can achieve,” Smith said.
In other news, David Bedingham’s contract has come to an end with Western Province and he will be heading to his UK County Durham, who he has signed a 3-year deal with.
“Durham asked me to return and train with the squad and get ready for the upcoming season, WP agreed to let me leave at the end of Jan before the T20 competition,” said Bedingham.
“WP have terminated my contract, but it ended on very good terms, with no drama…I can’t thank the coaching staff and CEO enough for the season, I really enjoyed it,” he added.
Nackerdien thanked Bedingham and wished him well for the season ahead: “David has been a fantastic player for Western Province this season, he is the top scorer in the 4 Day Competition as it stands with 509 runs, but we always knew that he would be returning to Durham for their pre-season, and we wish him everything of the best for their season ahead. He will always be welcomed back to WP whenever possible,” Nackerdien concluded.
The Six Gun Grill WP Squad are busy preparing for the upcoming CSA T20 Challenge which gets underway on February 7.
