Proteas ditch Nella, put Ntini on half-pay

CRICKET South Africa rang the changes yesterday when it announced the national squads to face Kenya and Bangladesh over the coming two months.

CRICKET South Africa rang the changes yesterday when it announced the national squads to face Kenya and Bangladesh over the coming two months.

Makhaya Ntini and Andre Nel have had to deal with bad news, especially Nel, who has been dropped from both the one-day and Test squads.

Nel has a chequered history with CSA, which reached a low when he considered leaving South African cricket altogether after being dropped for February's tour of Bangladesh in favour of Morne Morkel.

Ntini has been dropped from the one-day squad, a decision that will have surprised nobody - his one-day form on the recent tour of England was poor.

Ntini will take the opportunity to concentrate on Test cricket, but for Nel this probably signals the end of the road. His place in the squad has not been assured for a year or so and he doesn't seem to feature in the plans, with selectors, now focusing firmly on the 2011 World Cup and a Test tour of Australia at the end of the year.

In place of Ntini and Nel, acting convener of selectors CSA boss Gerald Majola has called up Rory Kleinveldt and Ryan McLaren.

Kleinveldt is a useful bowler who has shown much promise, but will be under pressure to justify his selection against Bangladesh and Kenya.

The selection of McLaren is interesting. The 25-year-old from Kimberley has been a Kolpak player for Kent, securing a contract because of his express desire to qualify for England. His taking part will be decided by whether Kent will release him from his contract.

McLaren has a very useful first-class bowling average of 24, and his recent form for Kent attracted Mickey Arthur's attention when South Africa were in England.

Spinner Johan Botha has been named as Graeme Smith's deputy in the one-day squad, meaning he is likely to lead the team against Kenya. Smith is still suffering tennis elbow, which he picked up earlier this year in the Indian Premier League and exacerbated during the England tour.

Majola said that Botha was to be "congratulated on his promotion. He will, in all probability, captain the side in the two matches against Kenya as we expect Graeme Smith to recover from injury in time only for the ODI series against Bangladesh."

Fast bowler Monde Zondeki has been named in both squads, and spinner Paul Harris retains his Test spot.

Meanwhile, South Africa's first opponents in the series have been written off by a former Kenyan cricket official.

Sharad Ghai, who was a chairman of the Kenyan Cricket Association, says the team has lost its ability to perform.

South Africa will play two one-day internationals against Kenya, in Bloemfontein on October 31 and in Kimberley on November 2.

Next week, Kenya host an international one-day triangular series against Ireland and Zimbabwe.

"We are not as good as we used to be," said Ghai. "The players don't have the heart to perform and they are not a cohesive team."

Goodbye Gunther - Page 29