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South Africa team selection

SeamUp

International Coach
I think the big thing about Duminy is he has obvious glaring weaknesses in his game that the rest of the world knows about, and he has never really improved or corrected them. So in the right conditions and or against an inexperienced bowler he looks fantastic but against a quality attack that knows how to bowl to him, he falls apart quickly.... hence his ability to score big runs domestically and hardly score at international level.
The Aussies haven't seemed to crack the plan though :D
 

GRAB

First Class Debutant
An interesting piece on yorkers, and why certain types of bowlers are more effective at bowling them: Why can't we make yorkers great again? - ESPNcricinfo

A batting all-rounder - Muthusamy / Mulder - would help our team balance in ODI's immeasurably, but they need to hold their place as batsmen, and there's still a lot to prove with both. And till now Muthusamy especially hasn't had the big shots. Parnell SHOULD be the solution, but he's nowhere right now it seems - bat or ball.

Abbott's batting was surprisingly poor for South Africa; hit a 97 for Hampshire last year, and made some good runs (way) down the order for Dolphins, but was so in his shell for us. More bowlers like Morris and Abbott (and Frylinck, I guess) would lessen the pressure of a search for all-round options (I'm not sure I'd consider Morris an all-rounder, except in T20).

Australia have a good left-arm spinner? Steve O'Keefe has an unheard of domestic record (where, even more than in South Africa, it is so difficult for spinners to get wickets to perform on!) and averages under 30 after 9 matches. Strangely, he is out of the reckoning because of disciplinary reasons (gone are the days when being a drunken lout like Boone or Merv was considered a plus in the selectors' eyes?)
 

GoodAreasShane

Cricketer Of The Year
O'Keefe was our best domestic spinner by a country mile for years, surprised he didn't get a test opportunity earlier. That horse has probably bolted now though, had a lot of injuries as well as the aforementioned disciplinary issues. He'll still always have Pune though.
 

Rasimione

U19 Captain
I'm not that concerned with our bowling to be honest. It's the batting that bothers me a lot. The next batch In line does not feel me with any confidence.
 

SeamUp

International Coach
I think there is 23 ODIs till the world cup. In my opinion 22 players are competing for 15 spots.

Amla
de Kock
du Plessis
de Villiers
Duminy
Klaasen
Markram
Miller
Behardien
Jonker
Zondo

Phehlukwayo
Morris
Mulder

Tahir
Shamsi
Maharaj

Rabada
Morkel
Ngidi
Steyn
Dala


EDIT : Small margins like form building up to the world cup or fielding ability could help certain selections.
 
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SeamUp

International Coach
I know there is still a bit more of the the best format (3 Sunfoil Series and 4 tests) left but I think we've seen enough to know how we looking here.

With regards to test cricket.

Current squad :

Elgar (31) , Markram (24), Amla (35) , De Villiers (34) , Du Plessis (34) , de Kock (wk) (26), Bavuma (28) , de Bruyn (26) , Klaasen (wk) (27)
Mulder (20)
Maharaj (28)
Philander (33) , Morkel (34) , Rabada (23) , Steyn (35) , Ngidi (22)

* Possible retirement in 2 years

'A' possibilities (with some of the above dropping down)

Pieter Malan (29)
Reeza Hendricks (29)
Zubayr Hamza (23)
Senuran Muthusamy (24)
Khaya Zondo (28)
Rassie van der Dussen (29)
Rivaldo Moonsamy (22)

Rudi Second (wk) (29)
Kyle Verreynne (wk) (21)

Shaun von Berg (32)
Dane Piedt (28)

Duanne Olivier (26)
Beuran Hendricks (28)
Andile Phehluwkayo (22) (Needs to improve drastically for this format. Could have gone Dala but gone with age and a first change bowler who can bat)
Daryn Dupavillon (24)
Anrich Nortje (25)
Lizaad Williams (25)
Michael Cohen (20)

* Purposefully left out Morris, Dala (in this format) and other franchise performers like Siboto, Paterson (long term possibilities in this format to play for SA very small)

SA Academy development this winter particularly batsman required : Rickelton (22) , de Zorzi (21), Breetzke (20) , van Tonder (20) , Pillay (19)
 

SeamUp

International Coach
Talking 50-over cricket

Miller : Desperately out of form. Miss hitting balls he normally hits out the park and that includes poor balls meant to be dispatched for 6 and that is due to the pressure he is putting himself under.
Morris : So erratic with the ball. The recent T20 couldn't describe him more. A maiden then a filthy 20-run over. A wicket then a 4-ball or a wide. Batted time well in Durban but nothing after.
Shamsi : 0/18 & 0/48 in the ODIs - fielding needs massive work especially as he can't bat.
Phehlukwayo : 3 wickets in 5 games in ODI's. A couple of 20-odd not outs with the bat (but wouldn't say a massive innings) & when asked to bat time didn't. Did he bowl his quota of overs in the T20s ?
Tahir : The slide has been slow but he is 39 this year so it is understandable. I hope he can find a few more pushes till 40.
Duminy : 50-over scores as a senior : 12, 25, 51, 10, 1 - when he resumes at 5 does his batting problems amplify ?

I think de Kock is out-of-form only but the minute he gets back to what he can produce he is a certainty. But he will need to do the hard yards still.
Morkel, Steyn, Behardien not really sure where they stand in 50-over cricket.
Then quite a few newbies tried.
 

SeamUp

International Coach
Even if only 2nd division it is good to see Olivier and Markram sign as overseas players for Derbyshire and Durham

Durham’s chairman, Sir Ian Botham, said: ‘Aiden offers confidence and maturity at the top of the batting order and despite being just 23 years old, he has already been recognised by South Africa as a leader in the dressing room.

‘It’s great news that we will have Aiden at the beginning of our Championship campaign, especially with Tom Latham, Ben Stokes and Mark Wood all missing due to their international and IPL commitments.

‘We’re delighted to have both Aiden and Tom at Emirates Riverside this season and I am confident they will both contribute to what we hope will be a successful season.’

He will be available for the first seven County Championship matches.

Olivier, 25, also hopes to play in Derbyshire's entire One-Day Cup campaign, subject to the approval of the Cricket South Africa board.

"He comes highly recommended," said Derbyshire's cricket advisor Kim Barnett, the former county captain and England opening batsman.

"We identified new-ball bowling as an area we wanted to strengthen, especially for the first half of the season in red and white ball cricket.

"He is a tall, quick bowler who is keen to prove himself and he will give us another quality option."
 

SeamUp

International Coach
Our players do tend to retire early in SA cricket. Who were the last who earned the right as SA legends ? Smith, Kallis, Boucher, Ntini, S.Pollock, G.Kirsten ?
 

TT Boy

Hall of Fame Member
Our players do tend to retire early in SA cricket. Who were the last who earned the right as SA legends ? Smith, Kallis, Boucher, Ntini, S.Pollock, G.Kirsten ?
He was still relatively young when he was retired but Ntini stuck around too long.
 

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