WSB Western Province Men announce captains for the 2025/26 season

World Sports Betting Western Province Men have confirmed a new leadership structure for the 2025/26 season, appointing experienced fast bowler Beuran Hendricks as captain of the Red Ball side, while left-arm spinner Kyle Simmonds will take charge of the White Ball team, marking a fresh chapter for the Boys In Blue across both formats.

Hendricks and Simmonds will take over the captaincy duties from experienced wicketkeeper-batter Kyle Verreynne who has decided to step down as captain, stepping into leadership roles as they prepare to guide the WSB Western Province side into the new season, which officially gets underway this week.

“I am excited to announce Beuran Hendricks and Kyle Simmonds as our captains for the new season,” said WSB Western Province head coach Rory Kleinveldt.

“Beuran’s wealth of experience and leadership qualities make him the perfect fit to lead our red-ball side, while Kyle’s tactical awareness and consistency will serve the white-ball team well. Both have earned the respect of the dressing room and I have no doubt they will carry the team forward with pride and determination as we head into the 2025/26 campaign.”

Hendricks is no stranger to leadership within the team, having served as Western Province’s vice-captain during the 2024/25 season, where he gained valuable experience in guiding the squad both on and off the field.

“I feel honoured to be given the responsibility of leading Western Province and such a talented group of players this coming season. I’ve been a part of this union for most of my career and to be given the opportunity to be in a position to take the team to new heights is something I won’t take for granted. For me the badge always comes first and all I’ll be asking from the squad is to express themselves and always put the team first,” said the 35-year-old.

Simmonds has played a vital role in the team’s success, making key contributions on the field with his performances while also providing strong influence and support off the field, where his leadership and professionalism have been highly valued by his teammates.

“I am really looking forward to being the white ball captain. I think it's something that I have been speaking about with close friends and family over the last season and since the season ended. Just understanding that Kyle (Verreynne) will be away quite a bit and I think he led us exceptionally well, especially to our first trophy in quite a while,” said Simmonds.

“I want to replicate what he started as a new brand with Western Province Cricket. I've worked well with him in the past, so I kind of got a real understanding of how to do things through him.”

The 31-year-old added that the team has been working diligently under the new leadership and is fully committed to ensuring that Western Province returns to the top of the standings, building on their hard work, focus and determination throughout the season.

“For me personally, just going to keep doing what I've been doing the last couple of years for Western Province. And hopefully we can build some momentum now in the four-day competition and take that into the white ball stuff.”

Meanwhile, the side has fine-tuned every aspect of their preparations ahead of their season opener in the CSA Domestic 4-Day Series, as they gear up to face the Dafabet Warriors at St George’s Park from Thursday.

The Boys in Blue arrive fresh from their pre-season weekend tour in Durban, where they participated in the inaugural Metro T10 Cup, gaining valuable match practice and team cohesion ahead of the upcoming season.

Wicketkeeper-batter Daniel Smith says the team is eager to take to the field and put into practice all the skills and strategies they have honed during pre-season, aiming to start the campaign strongly and make an impact from the very first match.

“The pre-season has gone really well and the boys are itching to get onto the park. We've just come back from an unbelievable trip to Durban - thanks to Western Province for that,” said Smith.

“I think we got what we wanted out of it, but I think the excitement in the group is really exciting now. We're itching to get onto the field and start the competition.”

Smith admits that facing the Warriors on their home turf won’t be easy but he is confident that the Boys in Blue have the skills, determination, and team spirit to rise above the challenge and put in a strong performance.

“All our focus is on the first game against the Warriors this week in Gqeberha and I think it's going to be a great game and a good contest between both bat and ball,” he said.

“I think all of us are really excited about the opportunity in this four-day competition.

“We’ve got a great group of guys - we've got a nice mixed blend between the youth and the experienced guys. We are eyeing out the trophy and hopefully through our hard work we can bring it back home.”

The 23-year-old added that the upcoming match will provide an important opportunity for the younger players in the squad to showcase their skills, gain valuable experience, and make a mark on the team’s campaign.

“Obviously we're missing our Proteas boys, so it's given a lot of the younger guys opportunities to showcase their talent. So, I think guys are wanting to go there and put their hand up for the first game.”

“We are strong candidates this season and we are pushing ourselves to put a big effort into this competition,” Hendricks said.

“The way that the guys have put in the work from the time when we started pre-season, to being in the indoor nets, to now being outdoors, I’m really excited by the way everyone looks and the skills we’ve put in place is really exciting.”

Heading to Gqeberha this week, it’s going to be an interesting challenge for both sides coming up against each other for the first time this season. Hendricks believes though, that the Warriors won’t dish up any surprises.

“We know what to expect (from the Warriors). We know Robin Peterson and the type of coach that he is. We know the brand of cricket that the Warriors want to play and we aren’t going there not knowing how to go about things.

“From a St George’s Park perspective, we know the conditions quite well. Rory (Kleinveldt), our coach, has played there for countless years and we’ve got a few senior men in our team that have played there.

“Hopefully the rain stays away because we know at St George’s the weather does come into play if that wind starts blowing.”

Heading into the fixture this week, Hendricks wants his team to be right on the mark from the beginning.

“We’ve done our analysis work on the Warriors, and we’ve made sure we are well equipped with the conditions. We want to give ourselves the best chance to throw the first punch against the Warriors,” Hendricks commented.

Western Province lost one match in the previous season with two wins, three draws and one abandoned fixture. They won their first match of the competition against the Hollywoodbets Dolphins and Hendricks is looking for another strong start.

“Every season you want to start well and a good result in the first match of the season does give you momentum going into the rest of the season whether it be red-ball or white-ball cricket.

“We’ve got four rounds of red ball cricket before we get into the white ball cricket and we want to take every single game from the start of the season as a momentum builder for the rest of our season.”

Looking at the personnel that Hendricks and Kleinveldt will have at their disposal this season, they understand that there are a bunch of players that will be away on national duty and so they have a more settled core group of players to select from.

“With guys like Kyle (Verreynne), Tony (de Zorzi) and David (Bedingham) being settled national players now it gives us the opportunity to grow a fresh crop of players and create some depth in the squad.

“We now know when to expect them [national players] to be available for us and Rory has done a great job in making sure that everyone knows where they stand within the squad,” the captain concluded.

The game is scheduled to start at 10am and will be broadcast live on the Cricket South Africa YouTube page.

WSB Western Province Squad

Beuran Hendricks, Josh Breed, Bongile Mfunelwa, Valentine Kitime, Mihlali Mpongwana, Jiveshen Pillay, Edward Moore, Daniel Smith, Joshua van Heerden, Oliver Whitehead, Kyle Simmonds, Tshepo Moreki, Dane Paterson.