CAPE TOWN - Former South Africa U19 captain Wayne Parnell will be back at the steering wheel when he leads Western Province in next weekend's CSA Provincial T20 Knockout tournament in Kimberley.
The 32-year-old, who is now an experienced T20 global franchise cricketer, led the SA U-19 team to the ICC U19 World Cup Final in Malaysia where he squared up against none other than current Indian captain Virat Kohli.
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It's been a long, winding road for the all-rounder since, which has included playing 111 matches for the Proteas across formats, but has not quite delivered on the potential that saw him make his international debut as a 19-year-old against Australia in January 2009.
But nonetheless it has been a fascinating journey that has seen Parnell ply his trade at the Indian Premier League, Caribbean Premier League, Pakistan Super League, Canadian Premier League, England's T20 Blast and the Abu Dhabi T10 League. It is this experience that convinced WP interim coach Faiek Davids that Parnell was the right man for the job.
"Parnell is a global T20 player with lots of experience - over 200 T20 matches under his belt. He’s an all-rounder so he’s always involved in the game so he understands the nuances and the ebbs and flows a team encounters during any given game, so I’m very happy that he will lead us in this T20 competition," Davids said.
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WP have been drawn in Pool A alongside the Lions, SWD and hosts Northern Cape, with all the pool matches taking place at the Kimberley Diamond Oval from September 24-26. The top two teams to emerge from the pool will qualify for the quarterfinals to be held after all the Pools have concluded their matches.
Proteas wicket-keeper batsman Kyle Verreynne has been named Parnell's deputy.
Parnell, originally from the Eastern Cape, has had a stint at Newlands before where he enjoyed a couple of stellar seasons playing for the Cape Cobras before opting to join Worcester on a Kolpak deal in 2018. However, he has called Cape Town home for the last few years having married local social influencer Aisha Baker, with the couple now blessed with two children.
Parnell is therefore determined to restore WP's reputation as one of the major cricket centre's in the country in CSA's new provincial structure.
"Obviously, I’m very excited to be leading this wonderful Province, it’s really nice to be given this opportunity, it’s an opportunity that I don’t take lightly, it’s a massive privilege," Parnell said.
"This is a Union with a rich tradition of, firstly winning trophies, but also preparing guys for the next level, the Proteas. I’m very excited about the squad we’ve assembled, it’s a good bunch of youngsters mixed with a couple of experienced guys and guys coming back from Proteas who are available to us.
“We’re really looking forward to getting stuck in and getting the season started and we’re confident that everything will go well," he added.
Six Gun Grill WP CSA T20 Knockout Pool A fixtures:
Friday, 24 September: WP vs Lions (10am)
Saturday, 25 September: SWD vs WP (10am)
Sunday, 26 September: Northern Cape Heat vs WP (2:30pm)