Domingo backs Van Buuren’s leadership to lift Lions

Russell Domingo believes Mitchell van Buuren will be the next Lions player to achieve international status and has shown his faith in the 26-year-old by handing him a leadership role at the Central Gauteng union. 

Though officially the vice-captain for the 2024/25 season, Van Buuren, an elegant middle order batter, will lead the Lions in their opening match of the summer against Northerns Titans in the T20 Challenge, which starts on September 27. 

“I think he will be the next player to come through [our] system and play for SA. He’s batting extremely well. He’s got all the attributes to be an international cricketer,” Domingo, the Lions’ head coach, said. 

Domingo — who previously coached the Proteas and Bangladesh — said Van Buuren had approached him during the off-season about the vice-captaincy and explained that with Bjorn Fortuin, who leads the province’s white ball teams, likely to be absent with the Proteas, leadership would probably rest with him this summer.

Fortuin will head to the UAE with the national side on Saturday for series against Afghanistan and Ireland.

“I’ve captained the first team at school, SA U-19 and the SA Emerging side, it’s nothing new to me,” said Van Buuren, who graduated from King Edward VII, alma mater of former Proteas skipper Graeme Smith.

“For me it's about leading by example. I’m not a vocal guy, so I’ll lead by my actions. I want to win games for my team with the bat and make the best decisions possible when I’m leading.”

Van Buuren said the SA20 competition had proved an invaluable teaching school. 

“It has helped me immensely. I was fortunate to play with Jos Buttler and David Miller, [at Paarl Royals] who are leaders and I learnt a lot from them. I had a few chats with David last season about leadership. Being in that environment has taken my game to the next level.”

He made big strides for the Lions in the Four-Day competition, with a career-best 170, which rescued his side from a difficult position against Western Province at Newlands, the obvious highlight.

“I’ve got to keep letting the bat do the talking. I can always score more runs, which is something I want to do this season. I’m as hungry as ever and I’ll be looking to put as many runs as possible on the board.”

The Lions won two of the three provincial trophies on offer last season, leading to a plethora of prizes at last week’s Cricket SA awards. Included in those was the coach of the year award for Domingo, who understands how high the stakes will be again for his side in the 2024/25 season. 

“We have coaches who have coached and played internationally, so we don’t judge our performances on what we do domestically, but how we play, our techniques and it’s all based on whether it is up to international standard. 

“We want to make sure players are prepared to dominate not just domestically but to take a step up and make it in international cricket.”