The 22-year-old has spent his entire first-class career at the ITEC Knights and he will move to the Pretoria-based team along with the batter, Matthew Kleinveldt.

Unfortunately for the Knights their relegation to Division 2 in domestic cricket made it impossible to hold on to their top players as the budget for contracts would simply not be able to accommodate his.

Coetzee told OFM Sport that he will be forever grateful for what the Knights did for him.

“It's very difficult for me to comprehend that I'm leaving the Free State," said Coetzee.

“I have many special memories here and I've also worked with a lot of special people.

“The Knights and Free State cricket will always be close to my heart and I will be forever grateful for the opportunities that they gave me.

“But I'm just as excited to be going to the Titans which is a very big and strong franchise. Being able to go and represent the 'Sky Blues' is something that I'm very excited about.

“It's something that I will also cherish greatly when I'm there.”

Before Coetzee relocates, he is on tour in Sri Lanka with the South African 'A' team for a series of three one-day games in Kandy and two four-day games in Dambulla.

Earlier in the year, Coetzee made his Test and One-Day International debut for South Africa against the West Indies. Coetzee’s Test debut was at SuperSport Park in Pretoria, which will be his new home ground.

Morgan Piek/OFM Sport