Teeger to lead SA U-19 at junior World Cup

08 December 2023 - 14:12 By Stuart Hess
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David Teeger will captain the South Africa U-19 team at next year's World Cup.
David Teeger will captain the South Africa U-19 team at next year's World Cup.
Image: Charle Lombard/Gallo Images

David Teeger has retained the captaincy of the South African U-19 team for next year’s World Cup after he was cleared of contravening Cricket SA’s code of conduct following allegations of hate speech. 

Teeger, 18, will lead the baby Proteas at the World Cup, which has been moved to South Africa after Sri Lanka had its ICC membership rescinded because of government interference in its administration. 

The U-19 World Cup starts on January 13.

Teeger had been at the centre of a storm after comments he made in support of the Israel Defence Force upon receiving the “Rising Star Award” as the Jewish Achiever Awards were made public. “I’ve been awarded this award, and yes, I am now the rising star, but the true rising stars are the young soldiers in Israel,” Teeger said at the function.

Those remarks angered pro-Palestinian organisations in South Africa who demanded he be removed from the squad and stripped of the captaincy. Cricket SA appointed advocate Wim Trengove to conduct an inquiry as to whether Teeger had breached its code of conduct. On Thursday, Trengove's findings cleared him of any breaches. 

“Others might find his statements offensive. But they would understand the constitutional right to freedom of expression requires of us to be tolerant even of views we find offensive,” Trengove wrote in his report. 

The SA team includes Teeger’s much hyped Lions teammate, left-arm seamer Kwena Maphaka, big hitting Lions batter Lhuan-dre Pretorius and the Titans’ Steve Stolk. All three will also be part of the SA20, having earned rookie contracts for that tournament. 

The quality of this group shows the amount of work going on behind the scenes through the CSA pipeline and I have no doubt they will do us proud next year,” said CSA director of cricket Enoch Nkwe. 

SA U-19s men’s squad — ICC U19 Men’s World Cup 2024 

David Teeger (capt), Esosa Aihevba, Juan James, Martin Khumalo, Kwena Maphaka, Dewan Marias, Riley Norton, Nqobani Mokoena, Romashan Pillay, Sipho Potsane, Lhuan-dre Pretorius, Richard Seletswane, Oliver Whitehead, Steve Stolk, Ntando Zuma. 


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