Publications
Partners
Cape Town - Cape Cobras coach Ashwell Prince expressed his delight after three of his team's players were included in the Proteas Test squad for the series in India in October.
Veteran seamer Vernon Philander, batsman Zubayr Hamza and spinner Dane Piedt were selected in the 15-man squad that was announced on Tuesday.
While Philander is a household name on the world stage, Hamza and Piedt have earned their call-ups with stellar performances for the Cobras, especially in the last two seasons.
Piedt took the most wickets in the four-day franchise series while he was named four-day cricketer of the year at the CSA awards recently and could add to his seven Test caps, the last of which came in 2016.
In quotes published on the Cape Cobras website, Prince said: "I am obviously very glad that the three are in the Test squad.
"Dane Piedt captured 54 wickets in the Four-Day Franchise Series last season and deserved to be there.
"But even if he took 40 wickets he should be there because in India you should play your two best spinners in the country. And Dane is just behind Keshav Maharaj as top-spinner in the country."
The 24-year-old Hamza has played one Test so far, making his debut against Pakistan last season when Faf du Plessis was suspended, but should be in contention for a spot in the middle-order following the retirement of Hashim Amla.
Prince said he was disappointed that more of his players were not recognised for their consistent performances, especially brothers Pieter Malan and Janneman Malan.
"I am a bit disappointed that Pieter Malan is not in the Test squad. There are no other players who have scored more runs than him in the past two season's Four-Day Franchise Series," Prince said.
"Just a week ago he scored 180 runs for the South Africa 'A' team against the SA Emerging team.
"I am also a tad disappointed that Janneman Malan is not in the South African T20 squad for the T20 series against India."
Test match squad:
Faf du Plessis (Titans, capt), Temba Bavuma (Highveld Lions, vice-capt), Theunis de Bruyn (Titans), Quinton de Kock (Titans), Dean Elgar (Titans), Zubayr Hamza (Cape Cobras), Keshav Maharaj (Dolphins), Aiden Markram (Titans), Senuran Muthusamy (Dolphins), Lungi Ngidi (Titans), Anrich Nortje (Warriors), Vernon Philander (Cape Cobras), Dane Piedt (Cape Cobras), Kagiso Rabada (Highveld Lions), Rudi Second (Warriors)
