The 23-year-old allrounder Dian Forrester is hoping to make his top-flight debut on Saturday when the Garden Route Badgers host the ITEC Knights in Oudtshoorn in round one of the CSA One-Day Cup.

The Knights opener they season in Oudshoorn this week with a new look squad, with only a few familar faces in the team following and exodus of players. The Knights had to rebuild their squad after being relegated and this has allowed for the team to hit the reset button. 

With smart contracting the Knights have managed to assembled a squad that is competative on paper, but they will be tested during the course of the campain by the likes of the Northern Cape Heat and the Badgers.

Forrester has never played cricket at senior provincial level, and he was discovered by the Knights during the offseason. He has however played at junior provincial level and how he gets his first crack at the big leagues, in what can only be described as a golden opportunity for the youngster.

The Knights took a chance with the player who took three wickets and scored 86-runs in a warm-up game against the North West Dragons, while in an intersquad match he blasted 188-runs.

Forrester told OFM Sport that he is excited to make a possible debut.

“It's is a very exciting time to potentially be making my debut on Saturday and fingers crossed that I get the nod from the coaches,” said Forrester.

“The preseason has gone well and I had a long offseason with coach JP Triegaardt in Bloemfontein, where we just changed a few things and at the moment everything is just clicking, so I'm just very excited to get going.

“It's been a journey so far - I'm 23-years-old now and I haven't made my debut yet in all three formats, and to potentially make it is very exciting and I am also blessed to be able to get this opportunity with coach JP and them taking a risk with me.

“I'm very excited, but I am also nervous because this is my dream that may only be coming true now. I'm just going to take it game-by-game and just do the best I can for the team and myself in whatever scenario.”

Saturday’s Division 2 game between the Badgers and Knights starts at 10:00.

Knights squad to face the Badgers - Clayton Bosch, Pat Botha, Gihahn Cloete, Isaac Dikgale, Dian Forrester, Sithembile Langa, Monde Maqunqu, Nipho Mpungose, Matthew Pollard, Jacques Snyman, Aubrey Swanepoel, Garnett Tarr, Tiaan van Vuuren

Morgan Piek OFM Sport