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Johannesburg - Yusuf Abdulla and Jon Kent will both be in search of new teams as they have not been contracted by the Dolphins for next season the KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) franchise announced on Tuesday.
Left-arm swing bowler Abdulla’s fall from grace has been spectacular.
The 28-year-old had established himself as something of a twenty20 specialist and he represented his country in two T20 internationals, the last of which was in November 2009.
He also earned himself a contract with the Kings XI Punjab and spent two years with the Indian Premier League (IPL) outfit, in 2009 and 2010.
Abdulla was part of the Proteas squad which competed in the World Twenty20 in England in 2009.
However, he has endured a miserable season, failing to play a single senior match for the Dolphins, after beginning the season with a groin injury.
At the time Dolphins officials were hopeful that the paceman would be fit in two weeks but as the season wore on it became apparent that a general lack of fitness was hampering Abdulla’s chances of playing.
“Yusuf has struggled with fitness and form for the past two seasons and moving forward we will be investing in a younger generation of bowlers,” Dolphins chief executive Jesse Chellan said in a statement.
The Dolphins recently recruited fast bowlers Chad Fortune, 19, and Dane Paterson, 22, from the Cobras and the duo made their debut for their new team in the final match of the recently concluded SuperSport Series.
The Dolphins decision not to contract Kent is a little more mystifying as the current Dolphins squad is short on senior players.
All-rounder Kent, 31, spent 11 years with the KZN franchise, making his debut in the 1997/98 season.
Kent played two one-day internationals (ODIs) for South Africa against Australia in 2002 and is coming off a reasonable season for the Dolphins.
In the four-day SuperSport Series he scored 389 runs at an average of 43.22 while picking up nine wickets with his medium-pace.
Kent was also part of the squad which propelled the Dolphins to the semi-finals of the MTN40 and Standard Bank Pro20 series.
“Unfortunately for Jon, the focus of the Dolphins is to develop a team that will be successful in a couple of years. In order to achieve this, opportunity needs to be given to younger players to develop their skills and gain match experience. Going forward, it is a concern that Jon would block the path of a young player,” Chellan said.
