Hi Andy

I am glad to hear that you are interested in SA domestic cricket. Are you able to watch the games or do you just follow the results. Anyway, I will give you the lowdown of SA cricket

Since I am from the Cape, you must excuse my bias. SA cricket has been divided into 6 provincial sides, which compete in a 4 day, 20 over and 45 over competitions. The 4 day competition, every team plays every other team twice. Team on top of the log is declared the winner. The other 2 competitions, top 4 teams on the log play semi-finals and final to determine the winner.

Lets go to the teams

1) Cape Cobras:
My local side from the cape. This is a very young but talented side. The main problem is that they lack experience especially in the shorter forms of the game. International players include Gibbs, Smith, Kallis, Prince. Future internationals include JP Duminy and Mondi Zondeki. As you can see, when the national players leave, they weaken the side quite a lot. Cobras usually perform well in the 4day competition. Charl Wiloughby has been the leading wicket taker in the competition for 3 straight years.
Player to look out for. JP Duminy. Talented young batsmen. Will play for SA in the near future.

Cobras also include the likes of former SA players, Paul Adams, Allan Dawson, Adam Bacher. Captained by Thami Tsolikele(wicketKeeper).

2) Titans:
Probably the strongest side overall. Good in both short and long formats of the game. Includes the likes of AB de Villiers, Justin Kemp, Andre Nel and Dale Steyn. I am not sure if Martin van Jaarsveld will be playing here this season. Anyway, he is a very good performer at this level. This team has very experienced players. Titans are particularly strong in the short competition as they have many aggressive batsmen as well as some good allrounders. They were runners up in the 45 over competition and shared the 4 day competition last season. While there batting has depth and strength, there bowling is not as good and can be considered their weakness.
Player to watch. H Kuhn. Talented wicket keeper/opening batsmen.

3) Dolphins
Very good 4 day side. Powerful batting line up including the likes of Hashim Amla(leading run scorer 2 seasons running & already a ton this season), Dale Benkenstein, Shaun Pollock, Andrwe Hall and Lance Klusener. Also include experienced campaigners such as Doug Watson, Jon Kent and Ahmed Amla. This team lacks quality bowlers. the Dolphins struggled in the short games last season.
Player to watch. Hashim Amla. I have watched him on numerous occasions. He truly is a talent and I believe he will perform more regularly on the international stage.

4) Eagles
Best side in the short game. Winners of both the 20 over and 45 over competitions last season. I think that the main reason for this is that the side has a good balance of aggressive batsmen and economical bowlers. Also the Eagles are not really affected by international callups ( only Dippenaar, Jaque Rudolph and Nicky Boje) although due to injuries last year, van de Wath and Telemachus were called up. Recently, Loots Bosman has been called up but only for 1 days. He is argubly the most explosive batsmen in the country although he is not very consistent. Bosman is the only SA player to have scored a 100 in the 20 over game. Because their players are suited to the short game, they tend to struggle in the 4 day game ( finishing in the bottom 2 for 2 seasons running). Good young batmen like Davy Jacobs, Morne van Wyk and good bowlers like Telemachus, van de Wath, Tshabalala(off spinner) and Cliffie Deacon(Left arm swing bowler, very good in short games).
Player to watch: Thandi Tshabalala. (hopefully sooner rather than later, they dump Boje out of the side & give a real spinner an opportunity). He is a real wicket taking off spinner.

5.) Lions
An average side, finishing mid table in both forms of the game. Sometimes perform well in the 45 over competition. Internationals include Langeveldt and . This team consists of many SA failures. For example Kruger, Terbrugge, Mckenzie, Ontong, Claude Henderson have not played that many games fo SA. Even though these players have not played often for SA, they are still good performers at provincial level. Signing of Alviro Pietersen will make a difference as he has recently been called up to play for SA.Thus on their day they can beat most teams. A good thing for the team is the average age is still low. Lions will probably improve with experience.
Player to watch. Vaughn van Jaarsveld. Young attacking left handed batsmen. Not very consistent yet but already capable of match winning performances.

6.) Warriors
Ah, leave the worst for last. Always finish in the bottom 2 for all competitions in the last 2 years. International players include Boucher, Ntini and Robin Petersen. Without the experienced national player, this team is very poor. There are almost no players of immense talent or experience. Fortunatley, this season the management finally decided to bring in some experience. Zander de Bruyn( great aquisition, batting alrounder played for SA before), HD Ackermane(former Cobras captain, experienced top order batsmen played for SA), Murray Goodwin (former Zimbabwe batsmen), Hayward( often wayward) and Ngam( A few years ago, the best prospect fast bowler, swing the ball at over 150km/h, unfortunatly kept on getting injured) have been brought in. Add to that Tyron Henderson(top player in last years 20 over competition ) and Arno Jacobs( most consistent batsmen for Warriors over the years.) All of a sudden this side is not too bad.
Player to watch: Zander de Bruyn. Although he isnt young any more, I predict that as captain he will make a considerable difference to the warriors. He will score a couple of hundreds this season.

So there you have it. So who will you be supporting?