COULD Vernon Philander be a major missing piece in SA’s one- day puzzle?
Has Imran Tahir restored his confidence enough to return to Test cricket’s cauldron?
Selection convenor Andrew Hudson answered both of those questions in the affirmative yesterday when he named the Test and one-day squads for SA’s series against Pakistan in the United Arab Emirates next month.
Hudson took another calculated gamble by including Graeme Smith in both squads despite his ongoing recovery from surgery.
Thami Tsolekile, meanwhile, will again have his nose pressed to the shop window: Hudson confirmed to the Dispatch that he would be back-up for AB de Villiers in the Test squad.
Philander played the most recent of his eight ODIs on January 20 2012, and despite his phenomenal Test success he has been considered unsuited to the 50-over game because he bowls a fuller length that could be attacked more easily in ODIs.
However, SA’s 1-4 one-day series loss in Sri Lanka last month has prompted the selectors to ask Philander to adapt the skills that have earned him 89 wickets in 16 Tests to fit the one-day game.
“Vernon’s strengths in Test cricket are his line and length and he would have to find more variation in ODIs,” SA coach Russell Domingo told reporters in Johannesburg yesterday.
“It’s not just about bowling 10 overs on off-stump – I judge a player’s skill on how they are able to learn new things, and Vernon has an unbelievable desire to do well.”
Tahir was a broken bowler when he lugged match figures of 0/260 off Adelaide Oval after SA’s drawn second Test against Australia in November. He was not picked for any of the six Tests SA have played since.
But the leg-spinner was a feisty competitor in his T20 international debut in Sri Lanka last month.
Not much connects the far-flung dots of Test and T20 cricket, but it takes guts and gumption to twirl teasingly at batsmen as bristling as the Sri Lankans – and that in a format ill-designed for the purpose. Tahir took up the challenge and passed the test, and Hudson said yesterday he was “happy to try him with renewed spark”.
Smith went under the knife on April 9 to repair a stress fracture of the ankle. Hudson was quoted as saying in a Cricket SA release that, “We should have a definite picture on the status of Graeme’s recovery from surgery within the next two weeks.”
The series starts in Abu Dhabi on October 14 with the first of two Tests. SA will also play five ODIs and two T20s. The T20 squad will be named after the Champions League T20 in India, which ends on October 6.
Test squad: Graeme Smith (capt), Hashim Amla, AB de Villiers, JP Duminy, Faf du Plessis, Dean Elgar, Imran Tahir, Jacques Kallis, Rory Kleinveldt, Morne Morkel, Alviro Petersen, Robin Peterson, Vernon Philander, Dale Steyn, Thami Tsolekile.
ODI squad: AB de Villiers (capt), Hashim Amla, Quinton de Kock, JP Duminy, Faf du Plessis, Imran Tahir, Ryan McLaren, David Miller, Morne Morkel, Wayne Parnell, Robin Peterson, Vernon Philander, Graeme Smith, Dale Steyn, Lonwabo Tsotsobe.
Big Vern is x-factor for the Proteas
Has Imran Tahir restored his confidence enough to return to Test cricket’s cauldron?
Selection convenor Andrew Hudson answered both of those questions in the affirmative yesterday when he named the Test and one-day squads for SA’s series against Pakistan in the United Arab Emirates next month.
Hudson took another calculated gamble by including Graeme Smith in both squads despite his ongoing recovery from surgery.
Thami Tsolekile, meanwhile, will again have his nose pressed to the shop window: Hudson confirmed to the Dispatch that he would be back-up for AB de Villiers in the Test squad.
Philander played the most recent of his eight ODIs on January 20 2012, and despite his phenomenal Test success he has been considered unsuited to the 50-over game because he bowls a fuller length that could be attacked more easily in ODIs.
However, SA’s 1-4 one-day series loss in Sri Lanka last month has prompted the selectors to ask Philander to adapt the skills that have earned him 89 wickets in 16 Tests to fit the one-day game.
“Vernon’s strengths in Test cricket are his line and length and he would have to find more variation in ODIs,” SA coach Russell Domingo told reporters in Johannesburg yesterday.
“It’s not just about bowling 10 overs on off-stump – I judge a player’s skill on how they are able to learn new things, and Vernon has an unbelievable desire to do well.”
Tahir was a broken bowler when he lugged match figures of 0/260 off Adelaide Oval after SA’s drawn second Test against Australia in November. He was not picked for any of the six Tests SA have played since.
But the leg-spinner was a feisty competitor in his T20 international debut in Sri Lanka last month.
Not much connects the far-flung dots of Test and T20 cricket, but it takes guts and gumption to twirl teasingly at batsmen as bristling as the Sri Lankans – and that in a format ill-designed for the purpose. Tahir took up the challenge and passed the test, and Hudson said yesterday he was “happy to try him with renewed spark”.
Smith went under the knife on April 9 to repair a stress fracture of the ankle. Hudson was quoted as saying in a Cricket SA release that, “We should have a definite picture on the status of Graeme’s recovery from surgery within the next two weeks.”
The series starts in Abu Dhabi on October 14 with the first of two Tests. SA will also play five ODIs and two T20s. The T20 squad will be named after the Champions League T20 in India, which ends on October 6.
Test squad: Graeme Smith (capt), Hashim Amla, AB de Villiers, JP Duminy, Faf du Plessis, Dean Elgar, Imran Tahir, Jacques Kallis, Rory Kleinveldt, Morne Morkel, Alviro Petersen, Robin Peterson, Vernon Philander, Dale Steyn, Thami Tsolekile.
ODI squad: AB de Villiers (capt), Hashim Amla, Quinton de Kock, JP Duminy, Faf du Plessis, Imran Tahir, Ryan McLaren, David Miller, Morne Morkel, Wayne Parnell, Robin Peterson, Vernon Philander, Graeme Smith, Dale Steyn, Lonwabo Tsotsobe.
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