SA20: Paarl Royals appoint JP Duminy as head coach
Royals Sports Group’s latest overseas franchise, Paarl Royals, revealed their coaching staff which will set the groundwork for the to-be-assembled playing squad, along with guiding and preparing them for the inaugural edition of the Cricket South Africa’s officially sanctioned league – SA20, which is scheduled to kick-off in January 2023. Former South African international JP Duminy, known for his explosive and impactful batting in the middle order, wily off-spin and energetic demeanour on the field, has been appointed as the Head Coach.
The 38-year-old left-hander hung up his cricketing boots in 2019, the same year he lifted the Caribbean Premier League trophy with Paarl Royals’ partner franchise, the Barbados Royals (then known as Barbados Tridents). He has since stepped into the coaching ecosystem, serving as a Strategic Consultant to the South African Men’s Team in 2021 and as a Batting Consultant to the domestic side Lions. Notably, his most recent stint has been in the role of Head Coach of Paarl-based provincial side Boland, as well as the Paarl Rocks domestic T20 side.
“I have always had a very close connection with Paarl, having played plenty of my cricket at Boland Park, and hence it’s an honour for me to have been appointed as the Head Coach of the Paarl Royals. It is an exciting time for everyone associated with South African cricket and I’m really looking forward to working with some exceptional international and local players. The shared knowledge and experience in the dressing room is what I’m most excited about and having the privilege to facilitate and unlock our abilities together with my coaching/management staff,” stated Duminy.
Having signed a strong core in the form of England’s star batter Jos Buttler, West Indies’ canny pacer Obed McCoy and South Africa’s exciting duo of David Miller and Corbin Bosch, Head Coach Duminy will be joined by another familiar name in South Africa’s cricketing coaching circuit as Richard Das Neves, who represented Gauteng during his playing days as a bowling all-rounder, and will be shouldering the duties of Strategy and Spin Bowling Coach for the Paarl Royals.
