Sport24 chief writer Rob Houwing (File)

Rob Houwing

He’s understandably hogged the domestic cricket headlines over the past two or three days and I’m comfortable with South Africa’s decision to call up Lonwabo Tsotsobe for the three-Test tour of Australia.

The fast bowling department could do with that “different option” the Warriors left-arm customer obviously provides and he comes into the picture aptly armed with SuperSport Series success in the summer thus far - as good a yardstick as any for assembling the correct back-up options to the Proteas’ established front-line seamers.

Of course, there’s only an outside chance Tsotsobe, 24, will actually get a game on the trip. South Africa, unsatisfactorily, play a token two-day match against Western Australia before being plunged into first-Test action at the WACA three days later, so presumably they will be desperate to field their full-strength XI in the warm-up.

Keep in mind, too, that all smoke signals out of the Proteas camp indicate that Monde Zondeki is first in line for a call-up should any of the incumbent four seamers (including all-rounder Jacques Kallis) cry off injured.

Again, there is little reason to find fault with that, in rightful pecking-order terms, and the 15-man squad as a whole smacks pleasingly and logically of “consistency”.

The only thing that concerns me, if any of the Steyn-Ntini-Morkel strike trio, heaven forbid, gets crocked, is the lack of proven experience for near-unique Australian conditions among the Zondeki-Tsotsobe back-up.

We cannot skirt the issue of what happened the last time Zondeki represented his country in Australia, even if he answered an injury SOS and was understandably badly undercooked when tossed straight into ODI combat in 2005/06 after the Test series had been surrendered 2-0.

He was unceremoniously thumped for 106 runs in just 14 overs (one wicket), over the course of two appearances against Australia at Brisbane and Sydney.

Complete rookie

Zondeki is a genuine talent, we know that, and three years wiser now, but his body language has a minor tendency to wilt when the going gets tough and one only hopes he does not carry any “mental scarring” debris into this summer’s tour.

In the particularly unlikely event that Tsotsobe earns a Test crack, miracles, clearly, should not be expected of the complete rookie.

And nobody should envisage his being our answer to the Aussies’ presently in-form “leftie” Mitchell Johnson, either: he is a very different type of bowler, once you put aside the southpaw connection.

Just for one thing, Tsotsobe is much more about swing than pace, with a tall frame that helps him get good bounce at times.

Johnson is a marginally lower-centre-of-gravity cannonball in bowling-action terms, who can spear in a wicked yorker and is also far likelier to excite speedgun-watchers. He is, in fact, currently the consistently fastest Australian bowler -- even ahead of Brett Lee, by my television observation - seldom dropping below 140km/h.

He has also played 14 Tests and already bagged 56 scalps, which is 14 and 56 more respectively than Tsotsobe, of course.

Counting further against the Eastern Cape product, should he somehow be thrust into the Test fray, is that even if Aussie tracks tend to have pretty decent carry, they can also be gun-barrel straight if there is no significant “overhead” to assist the generation of swing.

Tsotsobe might find himself on a particularly unforgiving learning curve under those circumstances.

Less likely to panic

But you have to start somewhere and, even if he spends the entire tour as a net bowler, his angle of delivery will be useful to the Proteas batsmen in their preparation for facing Johnson.

A part of me does rue the ineligibility of wily veteran Charl Langeveldt: he continues to shine routinely for the Cape Cobras but remains on a Kolpak contract with Derbyshire (who wouldn’t let go of their 2008 County Championship asset without a fight). At least “Langers” is someone considerably less likely to panic if Aussie batsmen were to target him fiercely at times.

Even the three first-choice Proteas strike bowlers, you see, have precious little knowledge of Australian conditions between them: neither Steyn nor Morkel has yet played a Test there.

Like Zondeki, the former has harrowing memories of a belated call-up to the ODI series in Australia three summers back: he went for 58 runs in five eventful overs of a lone appearance at Melbourne.

Steyn, though, is a fine learner and is also three times the bowler he was then. Morkel? His present “directional” concerns will not have escaped Australian intelligence-gathering!

Old warhorse

That leaves old warhorse Ntini who, surprisingly, has not played nearly as many Tests in Australia as you may imagine: three, spread over two previous tours.

He has managed nine wickets at 37.88 with one five-for: not bad but not earth-shattering, either, when you consider his overall Test bowling average of 27.

At least there has appeared to be renewed zest about him in early-summer on home pitches.

Overall, the selectors have picked as wisely as they could for Australia, given present general resources, and we know “Biff” Smith’s Test side is a hard nut to crack.

I hope my niggly little fast bowling reservations are proved groundless …

Rob is Sport24's chief writer.

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