Ahmed Amla to lead South Africa Emerging Players

Ahmed Amla, the Dolphins captain and elder brother of Hashim Amla, will captain a 14-man South Africa Emerging Players squad for the 2008 Emerging Players Tournament in Australia.

Vince van der Bijl, Cricket South Africa's High Performance general manager, was confident his side would defend the title which they have won twice in succession. "We have won this competition in the last two years, beating Australia and New Zealand in the final. This is a tough competition and the experience gained by our players is invaluable for the later international tours", Bijl said.

At 28, Amla and Henry Davids, the Cape Cobras batsman are the oldest players in the squad, and Bijl said the focus was on giving exposure to younger players. "This year we are taking a younger side and have intentionally put in two old hands as it were, Ahmed Amla and Henry Davids, as we believe having a few old heads is worth great deal in developing the younger players on tour.

"We have won the last two tournaments and players such as Johan Botha, Vernon Philander and JP Duminy have come out of this experience and done well [for South Africa]."

The squad also includes Wayne Parnell, the captain of the South Africa Under-19 team which reached the final of the U-19 World Cup in Malaysia, as well was offspinner Thandi Tshabalala, who is the only player in the squad to have represented South Africa in ODIs.

Squad
Ahmed Amla (capt), Yusuf Abdullah, Werner Coetzee, Henry Davids, CJ de Villiers, Dean Elgar, Imraan Khan, Rory Kleinveldt, Wayne Parnell, Daryn Smit (wk), Blake Snijman, Thandi Tshabalala, Lonwabo Tsotsobe, Vaughan van Jaarsveld.