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Rob Houwing, Sport24 chief writer
Cape Town – South Africa will ask 'two or three' players back home to be on the alert for possible emergency call-up to the World Cup squad.
This was confirmed to Sport24 on Monday by national selection chief Andrew Hudson.
He said there was no obligation, under tournament rules, to 'officially' name players who will be in standby mode, although a Sunday newspaper has reported that Titans all-rounder Albie Morkel and his Knights counterpart Ryan McLaren are in the frame in that capacity.
There seems no reason to dispute that suggestion, as both would probably have come very close to making the original 15-man cut: there have been a few howls of public protest that big-hitting Morkel, in particular, did not secure a plane ticket to the subcontinent.
His almost immediate response to his omission was to smash an unbeaten 50 off 25 balls, including five sixes, in the opening Standard Bank Pro20 match against the Cape Cobras at Newlands on Friday – the second-fastest half-century in that format at the venue.
Morkel injured his groin during the course of his whirlwind assault, however, and missed the Titans’ next game against the Warriors in East London on Sunday.
Hudson said he understood that replacement players, if required for World Cup duty, could “come from anywhere”.
He said the only selection proviso served ahead of the tournament was that the final 15 be picked from the original, extended squad of 30 announced previously, in order to facilitate advance marketing/profiling aspects for the various teams taking part.
Clearly certain players will get – or may already have had, in certain instances – a quiet word from the wise men.
As Hudson put it: “We will chat to two or three guys and basically say ‘please don’t let yourselves go (into any fitness disrepair) in case we need you’.”
Morkel and McLaren as two likeliest standbys makes sense: the former’s spectacular hitting down the order is his major forte whilst McLaren, who tends to be more parsimonious than Morkel with ball in hand, provides comfort as possible seam cover.
But it seems players who excel domestically over the next few weeks – as the Pro20 develops – could yet do their World Cup “reserve” credentials no harm.
Presumably a batting specialist will also be told to be on the alert for a sudden call.
But those are all worst-case scenarios and Hudson emphasised that “all is on track” for the intended first-choice party.
“There’s still a nice little run-up period to our first tournament game on February 24 (against West Indies in Delhi) so plenty of chance to get of niggles and so on, if there are any.”
The Proteas have warm-up matches against Zimbabwe (February 12) and Australia (February 15) – both under lights, which will ideally simulate conditions for the Windies showdown.
Cape Town – South Africa will ask 'two or three' players back home to be on the alert for possible emergency call-up to the World Cup squad.
This was confirmed to Sport24 on Monday by national selection chief Andrew Hudson.
He said there was no obligation, under tournament rules, to 'officially' name players who will be in standby mode, although a Sunday newspaper has reported that Titans all-rounder Albie Morkel and his Knights counterpart Ryan McLaren are in the frame in that capacity.
There seems no reason to dispute that suggestion, as both would probably have come very close to making the original 15-man cut: there have been a few howls of public protest that big-hitting Morkel, in particular, did not secure a plane ticket to the subcontinent.
His almost immediate response to his omission was to smash an unbeaten 50 off 25 balls, including five sixes, in the opening Standard Bank Pro20 match against the Cape Cobras at Newlands on Friday – the second-fastest half-century in that format at the venue.
Morkel injured his groin during the course of his whirlwind assault, however, and missed the Titans’ next game against the Warriors in East London on Sunday.
Hudson said he understood that replacement players, if required for World Cup duty, could “come from anywhere”.
He said the only selection proviso served ahead of the tournament was that the final 15 be picked from the original, extended squad of 30 announced previously, in order to facilitate advance marketing/profiling aspects for the various teams taking part.
Clearly certain players will get – or may already have had, in certain instances – a quiet word from the wise men.
As Hudson put it: “We will chat to two or three guys and basically say ‘please don’t let yourselves go (into any fitness disrepair) in case we need you’.”
Morkel and McLaren as two likeliest standbys makes sense: the former’s spectacular hitting down the order is his major forte whilst McLaren, who tends to be more parsimonious than Morkel with ball in hand, provides comfort as possible seam cover.
But it seems players who excel domestically over the next few weeks – as the Pro20 develops – could yet do their World Cup “reserve” credentials no harm.
Presumably a batting specialist will also be told to be on the alert for a sudden call.
But those are all worst-case scenarios and Hudson emphasised that “all is on track” for the intended first-choice party.
“There’s still a nice little run-up period to our first tournament game on February 24 (against West Indies in Delhi) so plenty of chance to get of niggles and so on, if there are any.”
The Proteas have warm-up matches against Zimbabwe (February 12) and Australia (February 15) – both under lights, which will ideally simulate conditions for the Windies showdown.
