Magala gets chance to show he's right fit for Proteas in England series

Sisanda Magala’s wicket-taking prowess became too much for the national selectors to ignore.

After a year of drama regarding his fitness, the 32-year-old right-arm seamer was finally included in the Proteas squad for the three-match one-day international (ODI) series against England at the end of January.

Magala has been the leading wicket-taker in the domestic One-Day Cup in the last two seasons, playing a key role in the Central Gauteng Lions annexing that trophy in both.

He was picked for a one-day series against Bangladesh last year, but was excluded at the last minute after failing to achieve Cricket SA’s fitness targets. At the start of this season, he was prevented from playing for the Lions in the CSA T20 Challenge, again because he fell short of targets.

“There have been fitness issues with him in the past and I think that is the only reason he missed out on selection in white-ball cricket. His consistency is the reason he has been selected,” said national selection convener Victor Mpitsang.

The panel named a 16-man squad for the series against the 50-over World Cup holders. It includes most of the players who have featured regularly in the past two years, including skipper Temba Bavuma.

Mpitsang confirmed that Rob Walter, the Proteas’ newly appointed limited-overs coach, provided input on the squad’s composition from New Zealand during a meeting on Tuesday evening. Shukri Conrad, the new Test coach, will oversee coaching responsibilities for the series.

Walter is only expected to travel to South Africa from New Zealand in late February.

One area that demanded greater depth was the seam-bowling all-rounders, he said. Wayne Parnell and Marco Jansen have been included to cover that area, but there was a notable omission in Andile Phehlukwayo, who has played 74 ODIs and been a mainstay in various teams in the past few years.

“Wayne has done exceptionally well domestically and for the Proteas. Marco provides extra pace. But it is not doom and gloom for Andile,” Mpitsang said.

The Proteas need to win four of their next five ODIs to keep alive their hopes of securing automatic qualification for the 2023 World Cup. 

The selectors did not discuss captaincy of the side. Bavuma, who has led the limited-overs teams for almost two years, has come under pressure this season in the wake of the Proteas’ embarrassing early exit from the T20 World Cup.

On Monday, when announcing Conrad and Walter as the new coaches, CSA director of cricket Enoch Nkwe said there would be changes in the Proteas' leadership in the next few years.

“The captaincy was not something that was touched on a lot [in the selection meeting], but we are quite happy with where [Bavuma] is at the moment,” Mpitsang said.

Neither Ryan Rickelton nor Dewald Brevis were selected, with Mpitsang saying both would come into the reckoning for series’ against the West Indies in March. 

Proteas ODI squad: Temba Bavuma (capt); Quinton de Kock; Reeza Hendricks; Marco Jansen; Heinrich Klaasen; Sisanda Magala; Keshav Maharaj;  Janneman Malan; Aiden Markram; David Miller; Lungi Ngidi; Anrich Nortjé; Wayne Parnell; Kagiso Rabada; Tabraiz Shamsi; Rassie van der Dussen