Richard Levi
Cape Town's Wynberg Boys' High School last produced a South African international 17 years ago.
It's fair to say Jacques Kallis turned out pretty well. And Richard Levi hopes to emulate the great allrounder and make a decent job of his opportunity.
"Jacques is probably the best cricketer in the world at the moment, so it's an unbelievable pedestal to look up to," the uncapped Levi said recently.
Levi will make his debut in this T20 series, and gave a glimpse of his potential against Canterbury on Wednesday night. His 63 off 32 balls, during which he smeared the Canterbury bowling around Hagley Oval, bodes well.
If his methods were unsubtle, they were no less effective for that. With the build of a prop, delicacy of touch is not his strong suit.
His talents were on show at the 2006 under 19 World Cup and he will have the world T20 championship in Sri Lanka in September at the back of his mind.
Do well in New Zealand and he won't hurt his prospects.
Marchant de Lange
Perhaps the most intriguing of the lesser-known Proteas names. The tall 21-year-old quick hails from the Tzaneen region of South Africa, about 420km north of Johannesburg in the Limpopo region, close to the border with Zimbabwe.
He has played only one game for his country, the second test against Sri Lanka at Durban just after Christmas.
Called in to replace the injured highly regarded fast-medium Vernon Philander, de Lange grabbed seven first-innings wickets, eight in the match, but was axed for the third, deciding test when Philander returned.
Some debut.
De Lange averages four wickets per first-class game and is making the right moves.
He has at least three senior figures in front of him, in Dale Steyn, Morne Morkel and Philander, with Lonwabo Tsotsobe also now fully restored to fitness. This tour will be a further step in his advancement.
Colin Ingram
"Bozie" Ingram has only the first leg of South Africa's tour to make an impact. He's not wanted in the ODI and test squads so for the 26-year-old from Port Elizabeth there's little time to find his feet in New Zealand.
The top order lefthander has played 15 ODIs, hitting two centuries, and seven T20s - strike rate 120 - and did enough to earn an Indian Premier League deal at Delhi Daredevils.
He has opened but fancies No 3, and with Jacques Kallis having his eye on the 2015 World Cup, and suggestions he'll have his workload monitored to get him across that particular line, opportunities will afford themselves.
A test spot seems a way off, but the shorter forms offer plenty of opportunities these days.
Ingram is near the top of the queue.
He captained the Warriors to the domestic one-day final, and his form in that format was impressive.
Justin Ontong
He's been around a while, so why is the 32-year-old in this list? Clue: the most recent of his two tests, 26 ODIs and three T20s was three years ago.
The batsman and handy offspinner from Paarl seemed to have slipped off the South African radar. His second test was eight years ago; the last of his ODIs four years ago.
Ontong was at the centre of a race-based row when picked for his first test in Sydney 10 years ago.
The South African board president at the time, Percy Sonn, had overruled the selectors and insisted Ontong, a Cape Coloured, be chosen ahead of Jacques Rudolph. But now he has another, belated opportunity.
"I was very surprised to get the call-up," he said of his fourth return to the national side. "I hope to really grab the opportunity this time."
Ontong has not been part of a South African squad since the 2009 world T20 in England. His form is good, and what better time to try and show, with the world T20 in mind, that he still has something positive to offer the national side.
