Cape Town - Cricket South Africa (CSA) on Tuesday named a squad of 28 players to attend a pre-season training camp at Arabella Golf Estate next week. 

The camp will run from Monday to Friday and will cover all aspects of preparation, both on and off the field.

The squad originally consisted of 31 players but three players – Wayne Parnell (Sussex), Imran Tahir (Hampshire) and Alviro Petersen (Glamorgan) – are not available because of county commitments.

The group includes three players who have yet to be capped in the Proteas’ Castle Lager squads – Chevrolet Knights all-rounder Dean Elgar, Chevrolet Knights batsman Rilee Rossouw and bizhub Highveld Lions fast bowler Craig Alexander.

“The squad consists of all the CSA contracted players plus another 11 who have either represented the Proteas before or who have done well enough at South Africa A level recently to merit consideration for promotion,” commented CSA selection convener Andrew Hudson.

“I can’t stress enough how important the A side has become,” he added. “This is our 2nd XI and is the only way for players to gain promotion to the Castle Lager Test and ODI squads.

“It is significant that Rilee Rossouw and Vaughn van Jaarsveld only got their latest chance to go on the South African A tour of Zimbabwe when other players dropped out for a variety of reasons. Both players grabbed the opportunity and their form has been acknowledged by the selectors.”

National team manager Dr. Mohammed Moosajee commented: “This is a very important camp as it is the only chance for Gary Kirsten and his new management team to work with the players before most of them go off to play in the Nokia Champions League in India.

“It will be a wide-ranging camp that will include involving former Proteas and establishing a true family environment in addition to normal cricket and fitness issues.”  

The full squad is: Graeme Smith (Nashua Mobile Cape Cobras), Craig Alexander (bizhub Highveld Lions), Hashim Amla (Sunfoil Dolphins), Loots Bosman (Sunfoil Dolphins), Johan Botha (Chevrolet Warriors), Mark Boucher (Nashua Mobile Cape Cobras), AB de Villiers (Nashua Titans), JP Duminy (Nashua Mobile Cape Cobras), Faf du Plessis (Nashua Titans), Dean Elgar (Chevrolet Knights), Paul Harris (Nashua Titans), Colin Ingram (Chevrolet Warriors), Jacques Kallis (Nashua Mobile Cape Cobras), Heino Kuhn (Nashua Titans), Ryan McLaren (Chevrolet Knights), David Miller (Sunfoil Dolphins), Albie Morkel (Nashua Titans), Morne Morkel (Nashua Titans), Robbie Peterson (Nashua Mobile Cape Cobras), Vernon Philander (Nashua Mobile Cape Cobras), Ashwell Prince (Chevrolet Warriors), Rilee Rossouw (Chevrolet Knights), Jacques Rudolph (Nashua Titans), Dale Steyn (Nashua Mobile Cape Cobras), Rusty Theron (Chevrolet Warriors), Lonwabo Tsotsobe (Chevrolet Warriors), Roelof van der Merwe (Nashua Titans), Vaughn van Jaarsveld (Sunfoil Dolphins).