Wayne Parnell would be forgiven for thinking cricket has a sick sense of humour after being ruled out of the rest of South Africa’s one-day series against Australia.
Parnell’s 3/40 at the Wanderers on Sunday was his best performance in an ODI since he claimed 4/42 against West Indies at Centurion in January last year.
But Parnell will not be able to build on that return to form. Instead a career often interrupted by injury and inconsistency has suffered its latest setback.
“Wayne had a high-impact landing while fielding during the second ODI on Sunday with subsequent scans confirming a rib injury‚” a Cricket SA media release quoted team manager Mohammed Moosajee as saying on Wednesday.
“He will require two to three weeks of rest before he can resume bowling‚ which makes him unavailable for the remainder of this series.”
That meant Dwaine Pretorius played in the third ODI at Kingsmead on Wednesday.
It could also impact on Parnell’s chances of landing a place in SA’s squad for their test tour of Australia next month.
He would have been an outside bet to crack the nod‚ but if he continued to perform well in the ODI series he might have caught the eye of selectors‚ who have shown themselves to be open to experimentation.
In the first match of the series Rilee Rossouw replaced no less a figure than Hashim Amla‚ who was out with flu.
Selection convenor Linda Zondi and his panel insisted on Rossouw’s retention at the Wanderers despite Amla having returned to fitness.
Rossouw proved them right by scoring his second successive half-century.
Farhaan Behardien sat out at Kingsmead on Wednesday‚ which meant there was room for both Amla and Rossouw in SA’s team.
TMG Digital/TMG Sport
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