Titans High Performance seam bowler Sandiswa Yeni was delighted to soak up the learning opportunities provided by a friendly fixture with Nottinghamshire.

South Africa Under-19 international Yeni was part of the home squad that provided pre-season opposition to Peter Moores’ side at TUKS Oval during their pre-season tour of Pretoria.

“I’ve found it to be a really good challenge,” he said.  “I think from the high performance level that we play at, it was good to see the differences compared to a professional county team.

“We learned a lot, even in things like when we saw the way a county team bats and compared it to how we bat.

“Things like patience, we could perhaps display more patience when we bat from looking at the patience that the county team displayed.

“It was tough, but it was a great opportunity to learn a lot of things too. I don’t think our squad is far off the standards in terms of ability. I think the differences lie in mindset and experience.”

Yeni, who played an Under-19 Test for his country against an England team featuring Farhan Ahmed in February 2025, was highly complimentary of the tourists’ approach to the game.

“I think they adapted to the conditions here very well, especially with the way they batted all through the first day,” he said.

“From the morning right through to the end of the afternoon session, the pitches here are very hard, and they get dry as well.

“You could see the way they adapted, with acceleration at the right times, but also with the holding back when that was needed too.

“I think the bowlers also adapted really well to the conditions that they encountered on the day and during it too.”

On an individual level, 19-year-old Yeni believed that the opportunity to witness Nottinghamshire’s standards will only serve him well for the future.

“I think I can definitely take a few things that I’ve seen from the county side and what I’ve heard from them during the course of the game, into my cricket,” he said.

“That will definitely help me to learn about the game and get better as I progress in my career, for sure.”