Refreshed Dolphins excited for remainder of domestic season
As the domestic season begins to return into focus, the
Hollywoodbets Dolphins are excited to get back onto the field with the CSA One
Day Cup the first assignment for Quinton Friend and his team.
It was a mixed bag of results for the Dolphins through the first part of the season, however they finished 2024 on a positive note with a good win over Free State in the CSA 4-Day Domestic Series.
The CSA T20 Challenge was disappointing for Friend; however, he knows that there were factors outside of cricket that contributed to their results in that competition.
"We picked up some big injuries in the T20 competition and some freak injuries as well which set us back," Friend said. "I'm not making excuses about our performances, and it did give us a good chance to broaden our squad depth and give the younger players the opportunity.
"Being able to see what we have in our pipeline was a positive and we've seen some of the younger guys step up to the plate at this level."
The Dolphins are well positioned in the 4-Day Series with an important win last year. Friend is positive about their prospects in the red ball competition.
"We are currently in fifth on the log, but we are only five points away from third and we've got a home game against North West when that competition resumes in March.
"There are three rounds left in that tournament, and we have a good chance to push for that final. It's something we are working hard on achieving.
With the One Day Cup getting underway on the 16 February, Friend is still working with a limited group of players with the majority of his players representing the various franchises in the SA20. The coach has highlighted the importance of the players that he currently has at his disposal.
"We might only get some players back around the 10th of February if they make the SA20 play-offs so that doesn't give us a lot of time to prepare," he mentioned. "We are putting in a lot of time and effort with the seven guys that we have at the moment.
"There is some very specific training with each player and their roles, which is important in making sure that they can all execute their specific roles in our system.
"The transition for the guys coming back from the SA20 will be quite easy, we suspect, so we're putting in a lot of time and effort with the guys we have on hand."
Last season the Dolphins finished sixth in the One Day Cup, a result that they will be eager to turn around this season.
The Hollywoodbets Dolphins will begin their CSA One Day Cup campaign against the Dafabet Warriors at Hollywoodbets Kingsmead Stadium on Sunday, 16 February.
