Russell Domingo expects Beyers Swanepoel to 'do good things' at the Bullring

Lions head coach Russell Domingo emphasised that new recruit Beyers Swanepoel is expected to do good things at the fast-bowler-friendly Bullring wicket as the Johannesburg-based team builds towards the 2025/26 season.

Swanepoel, having been recruited from the Warriors over the winter, has the game that is needed to be successful at his new home, the Wanderers Stadium.

He has the control and the skill to cause problems for the very best batters in Division One cricket, as he has proved during his time down in Gqeberha.

Domingo highlighted that Swanepoel, considering his skill and experience, is expected to do good things in the next few months as he begins his journey as a Lions player.

Swanepoel, alongside other new Lions players including Siya Plaatjie, have replaced former Lions player Tshepo Moreki, Junaid Dawood and Muhammad Manack, who have all moved to different Division One teams.

“We’re really excited by them (the new recruits). Obviously, we’ve lost Tshepo Moreki, who’s been an amazing player for us, Junaid Dawood’s left and Muhammad Manack,” said Domingo. 

“We’ve released two or three players, but fortunately, we brought in two very exciting young bowlers along with a couple of high-performance players from within our system.

“So, it’s always good to bring in new energy, and I think Beyers brings a lot of experience and a lot of control to our bowling attack.

“We are really excited to see him bowling at the Wanderers because we know the Wanderers surface is really good for fast bowling, so we are expecting really good things from Beyers over the next couple of months.”

The Lions hosted their 2025/26 season launch at the iconic Wanderers Stadium on Thursday, where sponsors, the Lions Men’s, Women’s, Blind and Deaf teams were all in attendance.

The launch was partly aimed at motivating the players to continue doing well as the new season is right around the corner.

Domingo told the media that he wants to continue producing players for the national team and also continue being a dominant force in South African cricket by winning trophies.

“It’s a standard season launch for the DP World Lions. It’s really exciting, we do things properly here. There’s no pressure. We are expected to do well because we’ve got so many things in place. It’s another great opportunity for us this season to do something special. We’ve had two great seasons, hopefully we can back it up with another good one this year,” Domingo said.

“Producing players to play for South Africa is a big thing for me as a coach. Getting players to progress from here to playing international cricket. That is really important for us.

“At the end of the day, no matter which coach or competition you’re coaching in, you always want to win. Any silverware, whether it's one, two or three, would be successful.

“It’s so difficult to win competitions, so many things need to go in your favour. So, any silverware will be seen as a really good season for us.”

The Lions Men’s team is set to get their season underway on 02 October, where they will travel to Cape Town to take on Western Province in a CSA Four-Day Series fixture at Newlands Stadium.