SA20: Pretoria Capitals announce signing of Will Smeed for upcoming season

New Delhi [India], August 1 (ANI): Pretoria Capitals announced the signing of English white-ball specialist Will Smeed for the upcoming season of the SA20.

Despite being only 22 years old, the Somerset-born youngster has committed to excelling only in limited-overs cricket. He certainly has shown potential by becoming the first batter to score a century in The Hundred competition in 2022. Smeed smashed an undefeated 101 from 50 balls for Birmingham Phoenix against the Southern Brave.

He has since gained experience playing in the Caribbean Premier League, Pakistan Super League, Bangladesh Premier League, ILT20 and Abu Dhabi T10.

Overall, Smeed has played 98 T20Is, scoring 2484 runs, at an average of 26.70, and a strike rate of 152.57.

Incidentally, he has only featured in one List A game thus far for the England Lions against the touring South Africans (which included his new teammate Anrich Nortje), in 2022.

Earlier, defending champions Sunrisers Eastern Cape (SEC) signed England international batter Zak Crawley to their squad for SA20 Season 3. It will be Crawley’s first stint in South Africa’s premier domestic T20 competition, as per a SA20 press release.

Crawley has proved to be an inspired choice at the top of the order for England in Test cricket, being the symbol of coach Brendon McCullum and captain Ben Stokes’ attacking ‘Bazball’ philosophy. The 26-year-old has previous T20 League experience with the Hobart Hurricanes in Australia, while he also boasts a T20 century for Kent in England’s T20 Blast.

“I have always wanted to be a good white-ball player. I am trying to add a few other shots to my game, but I feel like it is quite suited and I have gone well in T20 cricket in the past when I have had a run at it. I am trying to add a bit more power to my game, I am working hard in the nets, trying a few different things to hopefully hit more and bigger sixes,” Crawley said.