JP Duminy’s return to the Winelands region where he will don the colours of Paarl Rocks might just give the team the much-needed edge ahead of the Mzansi Super League (MSL) 2.0 campaign, according to the side’s President, Angelo Carolissen.
The 34-year-old Duminy first represented the local first-class franchise team, WP Boland, as a teen all-rounder on his way to a 15-year international career with the Standard Bank Proteas before calling time on his international career at the end of the recent 2019 ICC Cricket World Cup in England.
“We had a strategic plan about JP and why we wanted him here. We are so happy to have a great player who has also been on the world scene for a number of years. In him, the team will have a tremendous cricketer and teammate. He is looking forward to being here among our fans and will play a massive role in bringing the trophy to Eurolux Boland Park,” said Carolissen.
Duminy missed out in last year’s tournament because of a hand injury- but was already licking his lips at the prospect of lining up alongside his former teammates in Standard Bank Proteas – Faf du Plessis, Bjorn Fortuin and Tabraiz Shamsi.
James Vince, the English international, will this year join a team that narrowly lost out in their play-off fixture last year.
“I am looking forward to this edition after I missed out last year and being a part of a new team. There was an amazing vibe at Paarl last year. Also, I am excited about the good mix of experience and youth in our squad, most importantly, they are good people,” Duminy said.
“That’s the thing that I enjoy the most about team environments, and playing alongside different kinds of people, be it international or local where to get to share the same dressing room and get to see what makes them tick. Those are things that I enjoy, getting to operate in different cultures, creating a high performing culture in a short space of time.”
On Tuesday, The Rocks met Drakenstein Local Municipality Executive Mayor, Cllr. Conrad Poole, to present him with the team jersey and to showcase the tournament trophy ahead of the 32-match tournament set to start next Friday, 8 November.
Carolissen said: “Today was also a fantastic event to have with the Cricket South Africa team, to bring the trophy here in the Drakenstein Municipality and the city of excellence. We had the Mayor and his full council, for us as the Paarl Rocks; we are just ecstatic with the season ahead and cannot wait for this MSL2.0 tournament to start. The Paarl Rocks fans didn’t disappoint us last year and we look forward to seeing them come out in purple colors for the tournament.”
They open the campaign with a Cape Derby against Cape Town Blitz at home on Sunday, 10 November.
Tickets for all tournament matches are available across all Ticketpro (www.ticketpro.co.za) retail outlets around the country costing from R60 each, with discounts offered for scholars, students, and pensioners.
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