David Teeger to captain South Africa at 2024 Under-19 World Cup

David Teeger will captain South Africa at next year's Under-19 World Cup, which will be played on home soil. The tournament was moved from Sri Lanka to South Africa after the SLC was suspended by the ICC last month, and is expected to be played on the same dates - January 13 to February 4 - with venues yet to be confirmed.

Given it will take place alongside the SA20, it is likely the matches will be staged at some of the country's smaller grounds, such as Benoni, Potchefstroom, Kimberley and East London. South Africa had finished seventh at the last U-19 World Cup, in the West Indies in 2022. Only one of their squad members - Kwena Maphaka, who was 15 in 2022 - will feature in next year's event.

Teeger leads a side that includes two players who were on rookie contracts with the SA20 sides last year: Lhuan-dre Pretorius, who was with Paarl Royals, and Steve Stolk, who joined Pretoria Capitals and is coached by Malibongwe Maketa, the former assistant coach of men's senior team. Justin Sammons, the former batting consultant for the men's senior team, and Paul Adams are also among the support staff for this tournament.

On Thursday, Teeger was cleared to continue playing after being the subject of an enquiry into whether he had breached the CSA and Lions' Cricket codes of conduct by making comments in support of Israeli soldiers. Teeger's comments came two weeks after Hamas' attack on Israel, and amid the ongoing war in Gaza, when he was named the Rising Star at the ABSA Jewish Achiever Awards ceremony on October 22. In his acceptance speech, he said the following:

"But more importantly, yes, I've been awarded this award, and yes, I am now the rising star, but the true rising stars are the young soldiers in Israel… So I'd like to dedicate this award to the South African family that married off one son whilst the other is still missing. And I'd like to dedicate it to the state of Israel and to every single soldier fighting so that we can live and thrive in the diaspora."

Teeger's comments were reported in the South African Jewish Report on October 26 and have since been widely published across South African media.

In response, the Palestinian Solidarity Alliance (PSA) lodged an official complaint with the South African Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee. Subsequently, CSA, Lions (the domestic union where Teeger plays), four Johannesburg-based cricket clubs, one concerned cricket supporter, the Abu Asvat Institute of National Building (a civil society group), and a director of a company that sponsors Lions all issued statements of grievance. These were referred to advocate Wim Trengrove, who conducted an independent adjudication. Trengrove found that Teeger acted in accordance with his constitutional right to freedom of expression and did not engage in any unbecoming or detrimental conduct. CSA has accepted the report.

ESPNcricinfo understands there are some concerns within CSA that there may continue to be a public reaction to Teeger's comments. In a statement issued on Friday afternoon, the PSA said Teeger's comments caused a "significant rift within the cricket community" and that they continue to question whether he is "fit to represent a diverse South African team and more so, whether he has the necessary capacity to lead any such team". The PSA has called for Teeger's suspension from the U-19 World Cup squad and has indicated there could be protests at the tournament.

The team will begin preparations for the tournament this week with a camp in Durban and two practice matches against Zimbabwe U-19.

David Teeger, Esosa Aihevba, Juan James, Martin Khumalo, Kwena Maphaka, Dewan Marias, Riley Norton, Nqobani Mokoena, Romashan Pillay, Sipho Potsane, Lhuan-dre Pretorius, Richard Seletswane, Oliver Whitehead, Steve Stolk, and Ntando Zuma