Paarl Royals' Keith Dudgeon during a practice session (Courtesy: Media Release)

SA20 franchise Paarl Royals announced the signings of South African duo of Keith Dudgeon and Nqaba Peter as replacement players for the ICC U19 Men’s Cricket World Cup-bound Lhuandre Pretorius and Kwena Maphaka.

A bowling all-rounder, 28-year-old Dudgeon hails from Gauteng, and has 217 wickets in First Class cricket, 70 wickets in List A, along with 22 scalps in 17 T20 games at an economy of 7.89. He currently represents KwaZulu-Natal Inland in the domestic circuit, and has joined the Royals squad in Paarl ahead of the upcoming season in place of top-order batter Lhuandre Pretorius, who has become an integral part of the South African U19 team.

Young pacer Kwena Maphaka is the Rookie signing who won’t be featuring for the Royals this season as he is also serving the South African U19 team. The 17-year-old has been replaced by 21-year-old spinner Nqaba Peter, who represents the Lions in domestic cricket. The leg-spinner made his List A debut in September 2023, and has since picked up 3 wickets in four games for the Lions, along 2 wickets in his young domestic T20 career.

Paarl Royals welcomes the duo to the Royals Family for the upcoming 2024 season of the SA20. The franchise would like to wish Lhuandre Pretorius and Kwena Maphaka the very best for the upcoming ICC U19 Men’s Cricket World Cup campaign.

The Royals will kickstart their SA20 season on Friday, 12th January 2024 at Boland Park against Pretoria Capitals.