Tiaan Louw signed a two-year rookie contract with Northamptonshire in 2024 having impressed the county’s coaches on their pre-season tour to Stellenbosch in South Africa.
Left-armer Tiaan, then a student at Bishops Diocesan College, showed an ability to swing the ball both ways at pace and when Northamptonshire realised that he was English-qualified, having been born in High Wycombe, they invited him over for a trial.
Tiaan played a Second XI Championship match against Somerset at Taunton Vale and a Second XI T20 match against Warwickshire at Milton Keynes which reinforced the favourable impression he had made in Stellenbosch.
Tiaan had appeared in one Second XI match for Gloucestershire in 2023 when he was called into the side as a substitute for the last day of a four-day match against Kent at Rockhampton.
There was little opportunity for Tiaan to shine in that match but Western Province had already included him their T20 training squad at the age of 17.
Tiaan made his first XI for Bishops Diocesan at 15 and helped the school to be ranked number one in South Africa in 2024, which included a devastating return of five for seven against Pretoria Boys HS in the Old Mutual Peninsula Cricket Festival in January 2024.
Tiaan’s consistency was reflected in his average of 13.2 runs per wicket in 2023 and 13.5 in 2024.