Cape Town - With the Australian selectors showing their hand by including three debutants for the upcoming five-match ODI tour to South Africa, the Proteas selection panel should also feel free to explore their options.
Even though the Aussies’ fast-bowling depth has been hit hard by injuries to Nathan Coulter-Nile, Pat Cummins and James Pattinson, selection convenor Rod Marsh and his team have still opted to rest premier pacemen Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood in view of the upcoming Tests against the Proteas Down Under.
The temptation to include Starc - easily the world’s No 1 ODI bowler despite what the official rankings may claim - and Hazlewood would undoubtedly have been great, but they resisted and went with the uncapped Victoria seamer Chris Tremain and South Australian duo Joe Mennie and Daniel Worrall instead.
Tremain certainly looks a good prospect after playing a prominent role in helping his new State side - the right-armer moved from New South Wales in 2014 - to the Sheffield Shield title last season, while he has also been particularly impressive across formats against South Africa A and India A recently. The 25-year-old claimed a “five-for” in the first “Test” against the South Africans in Brisbane, while he also bagged consecutive five-wicket hauls against the Indians and Australia’s National Performance Squad in the subsequent Quadrangular One-Day Series in Townville.
Worrall was equally impressive in Townville, especially against the eventual champions, when in conjunction with Tremain they picked up nine of the Indian wickets to fall in the round-robin match.
Mennie’s one-day record is less impressive after only picking seven wickets at 50.85 in Australia’s domestic limited-overs competition last season. His selection is, however, due more to his prowess with the red ball where he topped the Sheffield Shield wicket-takers list with 51 wickets at an average of 21.21. Worrall was placed second with 44 wickets at 26, while Tremain was fifth on 36 wickets at 21.05.
Do the South African selectors have similar options? How are they going to shake things up? The possibility that Test No 6 Temba Bavuma will be afforded an opportunity to bat in the top-order (either open or No 3) certainly exists in the ODI against Ireland before the “old-guard” of Hashim Amla and Quinton de Kock return for the Aussie series.
Uncapped batsmen like Theunis de Bruyn and Qaasim Adams could also feature after impressing in Townsville while on South Africa A duty. De Bruyn, the Knights skipper, closed off the series with 217 runs an average of 54.25 while Adams struck 201 runs at 50.25. Only David Miller made more runs for the South Africa A team as he pushed hard for a recall to the ODI team with 332 runs at the hugely impressive average of 110.66.
These are certainly options for Marsh’s counterpart, Linda Zondi, to explore although it is the selection of the bowlers that creates the greatest conundrum. Does a fit-again Dale Steyn come back into the reckoning? Is Morne Morkel, who has been South Africa’s most consistent ODI pace bowler for the past few years, still form part of the Proteas’ plans moving forward? And which all-rounder will the team persist with? Will it be Wayne Parnell or Chris Morris, who are both exciting and frustrating in equal doses?
How much patience can this duo be afforded when young Dolphins all-rounder Andile Phehlukwayo is pushing hard down in the South Africa A side? At this stage of Phehlukwayo’s development, the 20-year-old is, though, more of a bowling prospect as his nine wickets - the second highest in the Quadrangular ODI series of all the teams behind Tremain’s 13 - at an average of at 25.77 and good economy rate of 4.98 suggests.
In the current climate of SA cricket it would certainly be a positive move to bring Phehlukwayo closer to the Proteas ODI squads in order for the youngster to familarise himself with the national team environment and culture.
De Kock and Kagiso Rabada went through a similar “talent identification” process when they were just 19 years old, travelling with the Proteas for a few series’ in preparation for their eventual international debuts.
Cape Times