Dewald Brevis secures maiden international call-up for Australia series

Impressive young batter Dewald Brevis has entered into the discussion for a potential role in the ICC World Cup 2023 in India, with Cricket South Africa (CSA) handing him a maiden international call-up to Brevis, the leading run-scorer at the ICC U19 Men’s Cricket World Cup 2022, for both T20I and ODI series against Australia, starting on August 30 in Durban.

Brevis has built a strong resume with one impressive performance after another and has become a regular name in T20 leagues worldwide, including India. He holds the record for the highest individual domestic T20 score in South Africa – 162 off 57 balls – which he struck during last season’s CSA T20 Challenge and in the recent SA-A tour to Sri Lanka, he hit a 71-ball 98 in an unofficial 50-over match.

Brevis will not be the only young player in the squad, as Donovan Ferreira, Matthew Breetzke, and Gerald Coetzee have been picked for the T20I series. Even though Coetzee has already represented South Africa in Tests and ODIs, he is yet to play a T20I for South Africa.

“We are looking for opportunities to grow our base of players, and the T20I series against Australia is a perfect chance to give some of the rising cricketers in the country the chance to show us what they are capable of,” South Africa white-ball head coach Rob Walter said. 

"For this reason, we have included players such as Dewald, Donovan and Matthew. These are guys that have been performing consistently week in and week out domestically so we are now looking forward to seeing what they can do at the next level. They also possess a particular skill set that fits into the way we are looking to play the game moving forward.

After staying on the sidelines for close to six months following his injury to his left Achilles tendon during the Test series against West Indies, Keshav Maharaj has also made a comeback to the set-up. However, the likes of Quinton de Kock, Heinrich Klaasen, David Miller, Anrich Nortje, and Kagiso Rabada are rested for the three-match T20I series, but keeping an eye on the India series, they will return for the five-match ODI series.

“We are also happy to welcome back Keshav. He has made significant progress and is ahead of where we expected him to be at this point in time with his recovery and so we've included him in the squads to give him the best chance to be available for selection for the World Cup squad,” Walter said.

The T20I series will begin on August 30, whereas the ODI series will kick off on September 7, 2023. 

South Africa T20I Squad: Aiden Markram (c), Temba Bavuma, Matthew Breetzke, Dewald Brevis, Gerald Coetzee, Donovan Ferreira, Bjorn Fortuin, Reeza Hendricks, Marco Jansen, Sisanda Magala , Keshav Maharaj, Lungi Ngidi, Tabraiz Shamsi, Tristan Stubbs , Lizaad Williams and Rassie van der Dussen

South Africa ODI Squad:Temba Bavuma (c), Dewald Brevis, Gerald Coetzee , Quinton de Kock , Bjorn Fortuin , Reeza Hendricks, Marco Jansen , Heinrich Klaasen, Sisanda Magala, Keshav Maharaj, Aiden Markram, David Miller , Lungi Ngidi , Anrich Nortje , Tabraiz Shamsi , Wayne Parnell, Kagiso Rabada , Tristan Stubbs and Rassie van der Dussen