The Proteas will play a three-match T20 Series against West Indies at the end of May. We look at reasons why it will be important to World Cup preparation.

Due to the IPL, not all of the players that were selected in the World Cup squad will be available for this series.

The group will change and have players added to it when management is aware of IPL player availability. Each team in the IPL plays 14 matches before the knockout stages. The final group stage game is on the 19th May.

The provisional squad will assemble for a week-long camp from 13 – 17 May at the Centre of Excellence in Pretoria, with the final squad set to be announced prior to their departure on 18 May. We will know which South Africans will not be in the knock-out stages of the IPL before this date, given the teams’ position on the IPL table.

Reeza Hendricks, Ryan Rickelton, Bjorn Fortuin and Ottniel Baartman are players who are in the World Cup squad and have been named in the preliminary squad for the West Indies T20 matches.

This will give them a chance to gain momentum and stake a claim for a starting place in the first XI for the opening World Cup game.

In our latest YouTube show, we talk about this as well as other reasons why this series against the West Indies will be important to prepare for the World Cup.

Unconfirmed fixture list:
1st T20I – May 23
2nd T20I – May 25
3rd T20I – May 26