Baartman’s success puts more heat on Proteas World Cup selections

Ottneil Baartman joined Ryan Rickelton in delivering a fiery retort to the national selectors about his absence from the Proteas squad for the T20 World Cup.

The 32-year-old fast bowler took a hat-trick and finished with 5/16 to help the Paarl Royals qualify for the playoffs of the SA20 with a dominant six-wicket triumph over the Pretoria Capitals in Centurion on Thursday night.

Baartman, with 16 wickets, and Rickelton, with 324 runs, are the top bowler and batter in the competition, but neither will travel to India for the World Cup — unless selection convenor Patrick Moroney and head coach Shukri Conrad have a change of heart before January 31.

“I wasn’t too disappointed. In the first place I didn’t think I was going to be picked,” said Baartman about being omitted from the Proteas.

He then claimed he’d not been contacted about his absence and said the last time he spoke to Moroney or Conrad was when he was chosen to tour India last year.

“The selector called me when I was picked for the India series, but before that no one communicated with me. The World Cup is a different story for me — no one spoke to me before that or after that,” said Baartman.

Moroney disputed that claim, telling TimesLIVE he’d spoken to Baartman on January 1.

“He is part of the backup group, and if there is an injury, we will look at him. I told him that when I talked to him,” said Moroney.

All the participating nations had to submit a provisional squad to the International Cricket Council by January 8. Cricket SA (CSA) named the 15-man Proteas squad on January 2, and though they can make changes before the end of the month, Moroney said it was unlikely they would do so unless an injury arose.

“It’s for me to continue to put in good performances,” said Baartman.

“Shuks picks the 15-man squad based on what he expects in India. He’s picked what he thinks is the best squad to win the World Cup. I can’t say much about that.”

But like Rickelton has done for MI Cape Town, Baartman for the Royals has let his performances do the talking for him. His bowling, developed on flat tracks in Oudtshoorn — not dissimilar to subcontinent conditions — follows a simple philosophy: hit the stumps.

“You have to compliment the man,” said Capitals captain Keshav Maharaj, who played alongside Baartman at the KZN Dolphins.

“People talk about x-factor, and for me that means holding the length for a long period of time, and that is what Ottas does — with the odd bumper and a change-up.

“He keeps it simple; he doesn’t leave the stumps. If you look at the best bowlers in the world, they don’t leave the stumps.

“Kudos to him for the way he bowled today [Thursday]. All his dismissals were basically hitting the top of middle and off. He sums up conditions really quickly. He’s a world-class performer. He’s done it at the international level as well.

“He’s shown how he can single-handedly change a game. He’s one of the best death bowlers we have. He’s the most successful bowler in this competition, and he’s showing his worth now.”

Rickelton is the leading run-scorer over the four seasons of the SA20 with an aggregate of 1,336 runs, and Baartman, now with 57 wickets, is also the most successful wicket taker in the tournament.

Moroney has said the SA20 is largely a domestic tournament, and players such as Rickelton are expected to perform well in it.

After Baartman’s performance on Thursday, Dale Steyn, who has previously expressed his incredulity at Baartman’s omission from the World Cup squad, wrote on X that the selectors had put players who were picked under pressure.

“Why did CSA not wait and announce their team on [the] night of the final [and] use this tournament [the SA20] as a form guide for players and pick from that?

“Now we see the selected players under pressure to perform and players who missed out killing it, all while CSA [is] taking the heat, and rightly so,” wrote Steyn.

TimesLIVE