The former Royal Challengers’ Bangalore and VKB Knights player, Dillon Du Preez, has been appointed as the assistant coach of the South African women’s cricket team. He will assume the responsibility for three years under head coach, Hilton Moreeng, whose contract was renewed by Cricket South Africa (CSA) this July.
The Proteas have enjoyed an excellent spell under the management of Moreeng. Since his appointment back in 2012, the African nation has made it to the semis of 2014 and 2020 T20 WC and a fantastic run to finals of the 2017 World Cup, before bowing out to eventual champions, England. The appointment of Du Preez, which is CSA’s first since the controversial affirmative action policy for consultants, will surely bolster the coaching ranks.
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Dillon Du Preez has signed a three-year contract and will work under head coach Hilton Moreeng after his re-appointment to the position back in July.
Dillon also played for @RCBTweets pic.twitter.com/I9xlEU0FeC
— Female Cricket (@imfemalecricket) September 8, 2020
The 38-year old retired a few years back in 2017 and left the game with a wealth of experience. The all-rounder has 600 wickets and over 4500 runs to his name, along with coaching experience at his former teams, Eagles and VKB Knights. Du Preez has also coached in women’s cricket before when he served as the assistant coach for Coronation in South Africa’s T20 Super League.
Dillon Du Preez expressed his delight at his new role in an interview, “I am really honoured. I have been relishing such an opportunity and can’t wait to get going. I’ve had to wait a little while before formally joining the team, but now it’s finally come and I’m really excited and can’t wait to get going with Hilton and the rest of the girls.”
South African women were due to be on tour to the Caribbean and England in the past few months. However, the Government’s strict guidelines to control the CoronaVirus pandemic have led to these tours’ cancellation. However, two camps of the National High-Performance squad have been conducted in recent days, and one would hope that cricket returns to Africa as soon as safely possible.
The right-handed batsman and fast-medium pacer were welcomed to the coaching lineup by Proteas head coach, “We would like to welcome Dillon to the Momentum Proteas set-up. He is a young coach with vast experience of playing the game and his all-round skill will no doubt benefit the girls.”
Momentum Proteas Women Management(as it stands):
Hilton Moreeng (Head Coach)
Dillon du Preez (Assistant Coach),
Sedibu Mohlaba (Manager),
Zane Webster (Strength & Conditioning Coach),
Tshegofatso Gaetsewe (Team Doctor),
Molebatsi Theletsane (Physiotherapist).
source: cricket.co.za
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