South Africa team selection

[SeamUp]

Steyn likely to join SA A-tour of UK

While the legendary former Australian legspinner Shane Warne has branded England’s decision to rest the lanky fast bowler Stuart Broad a joke, another legend is shrugging off the rust and improving his times in the beep tests to ensure he is ready to represent the country in England.

Although Dale Steyn has set his sights only on representing South Africa A in England in June, his presence in the United Kingdom might cause Andrew Strauss, director of England cricket, considerably more discomfort than Warne’s ridicule of England’s decision to wrap Broad in proverbial cotton-wool.

Warne says Broad, a veteran of 102 tests who dismantled South Africa with his 6-17 at the Bidvest Wanderers Stadium in the 2015/2016-tour, should be given the opportunity to find his rhythm early.

Strauss and the head coach Trevor Bayliss denied Broad’s request to play in a four-day match for Nottingham against Durham.

They want Broad’s appearances to be rationed with 14 tests and 30 white-ball-games over the next year. “I can’t believe Broad has been told not to play – that’s a joke. It’s cotton wool stuff and the player is going to get the hump – and you want a happy player,” a disgruntled Warne said.

Steyn was anything but disgruntled the past month while his rehabilitation after a shoulder injury gathered steam.

“My rehab is going well. I have done beep training for a month or so. I am running fit. Planning to go on South Africa A-trip in June,” Steyn said.

Asked if he would be able to return to the express pace of 145 km/h which made him such a formidable foe in his prime, Steyn said: “Hopefully, I feel good. The shoulder rehabilitation has been good. It feels stronger every week.”

But Steyn did not want to be drawn into comparisons with the England swing bowler James Anderson, who has struck 467 times in 122 tests with 21 five-wicket hauls. “I am not interested in that. I just want to play again,” he said.

Steyn has produced 26 five-wicket hauls in his career.

On his previous tour to England, Vernon Philander finished the strongest, taking 5-30 at Lord’s in the final test. Yet Steyn was the leading wicket-taker, capturing 15 tests at an average of 29.20 on that 2012-tour.

Asked about his goals for the next 18 months, Steyn was blunt and forthright in his assessment: “I want to play cricket for South Africa. I am nearly ready,” he added.

Asked whether he has an affinity for the ball used in England, Steyn remarked: “The Duke ball swings. It gives me a chance,” he added.

When Steyn is in full cry, he has the ability to run through opposing teams with his ability to swing the ball late at pace, by introducing the leg-cutter to left-arm batsmen and by using reverse swing to dismantle lower orders.

Once he gets a sniff by nipping out two or three batsmen quickly and his signature chainsaw celebrations has the crowd celebrating gleefully, he kicks into a different gear and becomes an unstoppable force.

 

[Niall]

Because Rabada came onto the scene and has been deemed better than him. Granted, Rabada may have been fast-tracked because he's black, but even if he hadn't, Abbott still would have only been fourth choice and not a test regular.



We don't know for certain. There may very well have been an element of quotas in it, but Philander had been preferred ahead of Abbott at the start of the tournament, and the general South African selection policy is for a first-choice player with a short-term injury to come back into the side when fit, so his return wasn't out of the ordinary. Philander is the better batsman, so team balance may have also played a role.

But even without Philander, that would still leave Steyn and Morkel (maybe Rabada as well) ahead of Abbott in the ODI pecking order.

Abbot was the form bowler and should have played. Heck you could probably argue he was more of a priority than Steyn that evening.

Rilee should have been the one to miss out for Behardien, its that simple.

Rilee ended up playing a meh innings while Vern bowled piss.

Selectors who picked that team got it wrong that night horribly.

 

[akilana]

Abbot was the form bowler and should have played. Heck you could probably argue he was more of a priority than Steyn that evening.

Rilee should have been the one to miss out for Behardien, its that simple.

Rilee ended up playing a meh innings while Vern bowled piss.

Selectors who picked that team got it wrong that night horribly.

I won't fault Rilee's innings, SA lost a couple of wickets and he consolidated the innings which allowed AB and Miller to go berserk at the end. I wouldn't have Behardien anywhere near the side but he is a better than he is given credit for. He should be ahead of JP.

 

[Rasimione]

Abbott is good sure but with all the fast bowlers fit he was never gonna get a game and he knew this. Russouw was the incumbent in the ODI squad and sooner or later would have played in the test team. There's a reason why Domingo was so pissed with him. But I also understand why those guys left. There's no guarantee and they wanted to be guaranteed a future. County cricket was their only guaranteed option.

 

[akilana]

There is no guruantee unless you are JPD

 

[SeamUp]

Vernon Philander out for 2-3 weeks. Starting to get niggling injuries constantly. Groin, hamstring types

Champions Trophy squad about to be announced. Hoping the others will be too.

 

[SeamUp]

PROTEAS CHAMPIONS TROPHY SQUAD

Hashim AMLA
Quinton DE KOCK
Francois DU PLESSIS
Abraham DE VILLIERS
Jean-Paul DUMINY
David MILLER
Chris MORRIS
Wayne PARNELL
Andile PHEHLUKWAYO
Kagiso RABADA
Imran TAHIR
Keshav MAHARAJ
Dwaine PRETORIUS
Farhaan BEHARDIEN
Morne MORKEL


So basically Maharaj and Morkel in. Paterson/Shamsi out.


Dale Steyn in the SA 'A' 4-day squad.

 

[StephenZA]

PROTEAS CHAMPIONS TROPHY SQUAD

Hashim AMLA
Quinton DE KOCK
Francois DU PLESSIS
Abraham DE VILLIERS
Jean-Paul DUMINY
David MILLER
Chris MORRIS
Wayne PARNELL
Andile PHEHLUKWAYO
Kagiso RABADA
Imran TAHIR
Keshav MAHARAJ
Dwaine PRETORIUS
Farhaan BEHARDIEN
Morne MORKEL


So basically Maharaj and Morkel in. Paterson/Shamsi out.

Good for Maharaj, pity for Shamsi still rate him highly. Otherwise no real surprises or omissions.

 

[SeamUp]

SA 'A' squads

 

[Stefan9]

Why is zondo captain of the odI but Markram for the 4 day? When both are in both squads.

 

[SeamUp]

Probably the best of what is left. Can't argue with that. Can't say it's the strongest I've ever seen but certainly some talents there.

Aiden Markram leading the SA A 4-day squad is some statement. Guess they saying he Zondo is a definite in 1-day and Markram is a definite in 4-day but not the other way round ?

 

[SeamUp]

Good for Maharaj, pity for Shamsi still rate him highly. Otherwise no real surprises or omissions.

No doubt is the long-term wrist spinner in limited overs cricket.

But right now for variation , reliability and all round ability Maharaj is a very good choice.

 

[StephenZA]

Yeah, can`t argue with those 2 squads for either the ODI or 4-day tour of England. Is surprising about the captaincy swap. Some interesting head to heads for potential Test spots... would have liked to see Cook there but suppose it makes sense with him playing county cricket already.

 

[Tom Flint]

Good to see steyn back, hopefully he hasnt rushed himself back

 

[SeamUp]

Just thinking about it. Vaughan van Jaarsveld is very unlucky. Outside of that maybe Jonathan Vandiar showed flashes of his talent for the first time in a while due to working with Boucher but needs another season of it to take him seriously at his age. Both of these two have a history with weight issues but that hasn't stopped the two Cape boys Levi and Kleinveldt at Northants in their first few games

Suppose besides that it is young players who need a consistent run of games who are the next generation to feed into the 'A' side into the future. Some aren't youngsters anymore and been between franchise and provincial and some just started out in provincial at the moment from SA u19s.

Cobras
Batsmen : Zubayr Hamza (22) , Ricardo Vasconcelos (20) (wk)
Keeper : Kyle Verreynne (20)
All-rounder : Dayyaan Galiem (20)
Seamers : Lizaad Williams (24), Brandon Glover (20) , Michael Cohen (19)

Warriors
Batsmen : Gihahn Cloete (25) (wk) , Edward Moore (24) , Matthew Breetzke (19) (wk)
Keeper : Clyde Fortuin (22)
Seamers : Anrich Nortje (24) Lutho Sipamla (19)

Dolphins
Batsmen : Senuran Muthusamy (23) , Sibonelo Makhanya (21)
Keeper : Grant Roelofsen (21)
All-rounder : Calvin Savage (24)
Seamers : Daryn Dupavillon (23) , Rabian Engelbrecht (25) , Lwandiswa Zuma (21) , Keith Dudgeon (22) , Eathan Bosch (19)


Knights
Batsmen : Keegan Petersen (24) , Leus du Plooy (22) , Raynard van Tonder (19)
Keeper : Andries Gous (24)
Seamer : Corne Dry (24)

Lions
Batsmen : Yaseen Valli (22), Ryan Rickelton (21) (wk) , Janneman Malan (21) , Marques Ackerman (21) , Farhaan Sayanvala (20) , Muhammed Mayet (19)
All-rounder : Wiaan Mulder (19)

Titans
Batsmen : Rubin Hermann (20) (wk), Tony de Zorzi (20) , Rivaldo Moonsamy (21) (wk) , Mitchell van Buuren (19)
All-rounder : Ruan de Swardt (19)
Seamer : Migael Pretorius (22)

 

[SeamUp]

Also interesting is Theunis de Bruyn captained the Knights to the 4-day Sunfoil Series title. Youngest domestic captain to do since Amla ? But captaincy gone to Zondo and Markram.

Graeme Smith didn't captain WP/Cobras much if memory serves me correct but started on a SA A tour to the Carribean so again Markram's similarities begin

Some quotes on the selections.

“We have been working with this group of players for the last two seasons where our key emphasis has been consitency in selection,” Zondi commented. “That has shown in how this group has performed over the last while, which has resulted in winning three consecutive ODI series.

“We feel we have a squad that covers every scenario that we could possibly be faced with on the tour. Most importantly, every player knows and understands their role and value within the squad.

“Keshav has had an expectional debut season for the Test side and his inclusion in the squad gives us a spinner with a different skills and extra batting depth. We have seen how important it is to bat deep in ODI cricket, this option will give us that cover if needed.”

“ These are the players we are looking at as future leaders and we are excited to see them develop in this role,” CSA selection convener Linda Zondi said. “Although Aiden hasn’t captained at Franchise level, he has been a player we have eyed since his role as captain of the world-cup winning SA U19 side. Khaya captained the Dolphins for the first time this season and along with being one of the leading run-scorers, has shown leadership qualities that we would like to develop.”

“The four-day series will give us an opportunity to see how some of the players who are on the fringes of the Test squad perform in England ahead of the four-test series,” Zondi commented. “We still have time to finalise the Test team so that series can give us some pointers before we finalise the Test squad.”

 

[Rasimione]

Pretty good A Team selections IMO. Would have expected De Bruyn to captain both teams but I'm not to concerned with who's been chosen. Vaughn Van Jaarsveld missed out again.

 

[akilana]

Should have picked Klassen in the limited overs side as well

 

[SeamUp]

Deano playing one of those knocks

 

[StephenZA]

Looks like Elgar scored one of those ugly hundreds we all love.... hopefuly keeps some of those runs in the bank for July.