Selection headaches for the Proteas

04 September 2016 - 02:00 By KHANYISO TSHWAKU

Proteas convenor of selectors Linda Zondi finds himself in an unfortunate position with AB de Villiers and Morne Morkel coming back from injury.Who stays and who goes?India's Virat Kohli is the only international captain without a recognised allrounder who is getting his way with outgoing chief selector Sandeep Patil in terms of playing six batsmen and five bowlers.Former Proteas utility batsman Hendrik "Boeta" Dippenaar reckons JP Duminy should be the last cab out of the selection rank when captain De Villiers returns.He is also open to the idea of a six/five batting/bowling split but reckons Morkel has to do first-class time while Dale Steyn, Kagiso Rabada and Vernon Philander hold sway."JP's had a fair chance to cement a place and I don't think he's done that. You get to a point where the selectors need to say how many more chances do they need to give to JP. It's a case of him not doing his talent any justice," Dippenaar said."In an ideal world, you want six batsmen, an all-rounder at seven and your bowlers to follow."If you want to pick four seamers, you have to have someone in your top six who keeps and someone who can also bowl some spin."That could work as an advantage for JP because of his bowling but it's going to be difficult for South Africa to play all their main fast bowlers at the same time. I'd also like to see Morkel playing some provincial cricket before he gets back into the test team."Former Proteas test spinner Paul Harris vouches for four fast bowlers and a spinner but also wondered where Morkel fits into the equation with the current fast-bowling trio complementing each other very well."You can't sell yourself short and not cover all the bases because spin will become a factor at some point," Harris said."The best spinner needs to be picked but you now have the issue of whether to play four out-and-out bowlers or add an allrounder so you can have shape with the tail."In a four-man pace attack, Morkel is most likely to miss out or be subject to rotation but that's up to those who play all three formats and how they are rested. Steyn and Rabada often play in all three formats."..

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