Gestetner Diamond Eagles opening batsman Boeta Dippenaar will captain a 14-man SA A squad to play two four-day matches against Zimbabwe in Harare and Bulawayo from August 9 to 18.
The first four-day game will be played from Thursday to Sunday and the second from Wednesday to Saturday next week.
Ashwell Prince will only join the squad after the funeral of his grandmother. He will miss the first match in Harare and meet up with the team for the second four-day match in Bulawayo.
In a late change made to the squad Johan Botha, the Warriors off-spinner, replaces Lions fast bowler Friedel de Wet.
Proteas coach and national selector Mickey Arthur said in a statement: ”We have made this change because local conditions now show us that we have enough fire power in our seam attack and we have opted to go with another spinner in order to give more exposure to our spinners.
”We also did not consider Lions middle-order batsmen Neil McKenzie for the tour because he is playing county cricket for Somerset and is getting tough competition here in the longer version of the game.”
The squad leaves for Zimbabwe Tuesday.
The squad is: Boeta Dippenaar (captain), Yusuf Abdullah, Hashim Amla, Johan Botha, Andrew Hall, Paul Harris, Imran Khan, Charl Langeveldt, André Nel, Justin Ontong, Alviro Petersen, Ashwell Prince, Thami Tsolekile (wicket-keeper) Morne van Wyk. Management: Vincent Barnes (coach), Barney Mohamed (assistant coach). — Sapa