Pleasant surprises in SA's World T20 squad Print E-mail
Category: Squads
Written by Luke Tagg   
Monday, 01 March 2010 00:05
Cricket South Africa (CSA) named a provisional, 30-man squad for the ICC World Twenty20 to be played in the West Indies in May on Saturday and the lineup includes four new faces and one or two (really) old ones.

Fifteen of these players will get cut before the squad leaves for the Windies, but it's a good indicator of the sort of players the CSA is looking at.

The best news for me is that two of my boys have been called up for the first time: Dave Miller from the Dolphins and Colin Ingram from the Warriors. I've been planning a feature on these two for a while but never got around to doing it, so until I do, know this: these guys are future stars of South African cricket.

Both have been awesome in all forms of cricket this season and both hit the ball big and a very long way.

Joining them on the noob list is star medium-pacer Rusty Theron from the Warriors and fast bowler Ethy Mbhalati of the Titans, both of whom have had excellent seasons. Their T20 career bowling stats are almost identical, although I would favour Theron for his death bowling.

There are also "Welcome Home" cards - sponsored by Hallmark and Kleenex - for Justin Kemp and Makhaya Ntini, although I don't expect either will go to the World Cup.

This is the provisional 30-man squad - the full squad will be announced closer to the time:

Graeme Smith (Cape Cobras, c)
Jacques Kallis (Warriors, vc)
Yusuf Abdulla (Dolphins)
Hashim Amla (Dolphins)
Loots Bosman (Dolphins)
Johan Botha (Warriors)
Mark Boucher (Warriors)
AB de Villiers (Titans)
JP Duminy (Cape Cobras)
Herschelle Gibbs (Cape Cobras)
Colin Ingram (Warriors)
Justin Kemp (Cape Cobras)
Rory Kleinveldt (Cape Cobras)
Charl Langeveldt (Cape Cobras)
Ethy Mbhalati (Titans)
Ryan McLaren (Eagles)
Dave Miller (Dolphins)
Albie Morkel (Titans)
Morne Morkel (Titans)
Makhaya Ntini (Warriors)
Wayne Parnell (Warriors)
Alviro Petersen (Highveld Lions)
Vernon Philander (Cape Cobras)
Dale Steyn (Titans)
Rusty Theron (Warriors)
Lonwabo Tsotsobe (Warriors)
Roelof van der Merwe (Titans)
Johan van der Wath (Eagles)
Vaughn van Jaarsveld (Highveld Lions)
Morne van Wyk (Eagles)

The provincial representation is as follows:

Warriors: 8
Cobras: 7
Titans: 6
Dolphins: 3
Eagles: 3
Lions: 2

I imagine the idea behind the extended squad is to have a good, long look at what we've got - although the final 15-man squad must be 90% decided upon already.

It will also be to give the final squad players a good workout against the best of the rest of South African cricket, in the form of nets and practice matches.

There are many tempting names there, but the final squad is unlikely to contain many surprises. You want as much experience as possible to take on the world's best.

I imagine the final squad will look something like this:

Graeme Smith (c)
Jacques Kallis (vc)
Hashim Amla
Loots Bosman
Johan Botha
Mark Boucher (w)
AB de Villiers
JP Duminy
Charl Langeveldt
Albie Morkel
Wayne Parnell
Alviro Petersen
Dale Steyn
Lonwabo Tsotsobe
Roelof van der Merwe

The guys likely to miss out are:

Yusuf Abdulla
Justin Kemp
Rory Kleinveldt
Ryan McLaren
Colin Ingram
Ethy Mbhalati
Dave Miller
Morne Morkel
Makhaya Ntini
Vernon Philander
Rusty Theron
Johan van der Wath
Herschelle Gibbs
Vaughn van Jaarsveld
Morne van Wyk

I reckon a number of these guys have got just the Standard Bank Pro20 and the IPL left to prove themselves before the final reckoning - JP Duminy, for example, needs to sort out his forward defensive smart quick in the IPL or risk being left behind.

Albie Morkel is a similarly fringe pick right now - if Justin Kemp blasts the Cobras to victory in the final two legs of their SB Pro20 semi-final, for example, having lost the first leg - it's gotta put pressure on Albie, who hasn't been overly special in recent times.

The most startling problem with that provisional squad is the lack of back-up spinners. All we've got is Botha and van der Merwe, which means both will have to be in the final squad. You can't have just one specialist spinner in the West Indies, especially not after tonight's amazing T20 between the host nation and Zimbabwe.

Otherwise, that's a pretty fair reflection of the cream of South African cricket at the moment. Players who can consider themselves unlucky include Jacques Rudolph, Blake Snijman and Dillon du Preez.

Ethan O'Reilly - or Smeegol, as he's known - has been spectacular for the Lions in the SB Pro20 in his debut season and is currently the leading wicket taker in the series. He's an interesting quick bowler, but still way too inexperienced.

Guys like Ryan Bailey and Gulam Bodi have stiff competition higher up the ladder for the roles they fulfil in a side - it's understandable that they weren't selected, despite some good striking from both this season.

Overall assessment: a good squad, if a little light on spinners.
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