Proteas red-ball coach Shukri Conrad impressed with Kyle Verreynne's cool, composed character in Sri Lanka heat

South Africa's 'A' team travelled to Sri Lanka and faced their 'A' side in three unofficial ODIs and two unofficial Tests between June 4-22. Kyle Verreynne, who was dropped for South Africa's Test series against the West Indies in late February and mid-March, performed well in the second unofficial Test against Sri Lanka A.

The talented wicketkeeper-batter's omission from the Test side came as a surprise to many as he was South Africa's third-highest run-scorer (514 in 19 innings at 32.12) in 2022 and had the second-highest runs (168 in five innings at 60.86) for his team in his last Test series against Australia. After his snub, South Africa coach Shukri Conrad said Heinrich Klaasen deserved a full crack. Another wicketkeeper-batsman, Ryan Rickelton, was also picked ahead of Verreynne.

The 26-year-old Verreynne didn't get bogged down with his non-selection and played a gritty knock of 38* off 50 deliveries against Sri Lanka A in the first innings of the second unofficial Test at the P Sara Oval in Colombo. Conrad was impressed with the performance of Verreynne and said in a recent interview that he will contemplate recalling him back into the Test side.

Conrad, speaking to the Sunday Times, said: “I haven’t had the chance to have a lengthy discussion with him yet. I still want to, but what he showed me here, to want to come back after missing the first match because he was ill, indicated a helluva lot about Kyle’s mentality. I know he’s given me plenty to think about and did his chances of a recall [to the Test team] no harm.

“You could see in this [SA A] side how Kyle’s experience set him apart from others.”

When are South Africa playing next?

The South African team played their last international game against Netherlands on April 2, 2023. The Proteas are currently enjoying a long break and will get back to action on August 30, when they host Australia in the first of three T20Is in Durban.

The three T20Is will be followed by a five-match ODI series that will be played between September 7-17 across four venues.