“It’s got a bit of the mountain in there – obviously Cape Town, with Table Mountain associated. Then the Blitz is just perfect for the T20 format that we are playing. There’s not a lot of time to knock it around for singles – let’s get it blitzed!”
That was how Ashwell Prince described the new logo of the brand-new Cape Town Blitz, who will represent the Mother City in the Mzansi Super League, which starts on November 16.
Although coaches and players haven’t yet been chosen, Prince is expected to take charge of the Blitz team that will be based at Newlands for South Africa’s premier T20 tournament.
Cricket South Africa unveiled the names and logos of the six teams, as well as the Proteas and international marquee players, in Johannesburg on Monday.
Apart from the Blitz, the Jozi Stars will be based at the Wanderers, Durban Heat at Kingsmead, Paarl Rocks at Boland Park, Tshwane Spartans at Centurion and the Nelson Mandela Bay Giants at St George’s Park.
“It’s got a bit of the mountain in there – obviously Cape Town, with Table Mountain associated. Then the Blitz is just perfect for the T20 format that we are playing. There’s not a lot of time to knock it around for singles – let’s get it blitzed!” Prince told Cricket SA on Monday.
“I love the logo, I love the name – a lot of work has been put into it.”
And the former Proteas skipper also likes the sound of the new tournament name. “I think it’s brilliant! I love the name Mzansi Super League. It has obviously got it’s South African flavour to it, and that’s ideal,” he said.
“I think there’s a lot of excitement – new teams, new names, new colours. And I think at the moment, everyone around the country is waiting to see how that draft is going to pan out.”
Over the next few days, Prince will be preparing for the player draft that will take place at Montecasino in Johannesburg on Wednesday (10am).
With another Western Cape outfit in Paarl Rocks, the Cape Cobras coach may have a vastly different-looking team from the one that plays on the regular domestic scene.
“I’ve had bits and pieces of advice from people who’ve done the draft before, and they’ve advised us to try to do a kind of gimmick draft – just in case some of the people who you thought you were really going to get, is snapped up just before you have your pick,” Prince said.
“Then you have two minutes to come up with a different name.
“There’s not much of a rivalry (between Cape Town Blitz and Paarl Rocks) – more of a brotherhood than a rivalry, but it will be interesting to see how many players from the Western Cape who they snap up.
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“You might only get a handful of your normal players, so new rivalries will be formed in the Mzansi Super League.”
The Blitz will have JP Duminy as their SA marquee player, while Proteas captain Faf du Plessis will line up for Paarl Rocks.
Representatives of the six Mzansi Super League: Ashwell Prince (Cape Town Blitz), Barry Whitfield (Jozi Stars), Heinrich Strydom (Durban Heat), Mark Williams (Nelson Mandela Bay Giants), James Fortuin (Paarl Rocks) and Pierre Joubert (Tshwane Spartans). Photo: Samuel Shivambu/BackpagePix
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