Proteas T20 reinforcements don’t exactly inspire hope
All the new members of the squad have been on the SA A tour but none of them are in good form before the T20 series against England.
Opener Reeza Hendricks is one of few rookies who have been in some sort of form. Photo: Laurence Griffiths/Getty Images.
The Proteas have rested some key players for the T20 series against England starting next week.
Instead, a few men on the fringes of selection – and currently on tour with South Africa A – have been summoned for the three-match battle.
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But their form over the past few weeks hasn’t exactly been great.
Reeza Hendricks
The Highveld Lions opener has been one of the exceptions on the A-tour.
After a poor start, the right-hander burst to life with sprightly, unbeaten 68 off 65 in a rain-abandoned warm-up game against Derbyshire.
Hendricks, however, showed his true mettle in the first “ODI” against England ‘A’, where he hit 11 fours in an excellent 79 off just 73 balls.
He only managed four in his next game.
Mangaliso Mosehle
The diminutive wicketkeeper-batsman hasn’t been done many favours by the English weather.
He didn’t get to bat in any of SA A’s warm-up matches due to the rain and essentially went into the series against England “cold”.
Mosehle scored five in his only innings and was dropped in favour of veteran Heino Kuhn.
Jon-Jon Smuts
Another player whose limitations have been exposed to some degree.
Despite making starts in two of his innings against England A – 15 and 22 – he was bowled on both occasions by tweaker Liam Dawson, confirming his weakness against spin.
That’s actually already known at domestic level.
The Warriors captain bowled tidy spin in the first “ODI” but got hammered in the second.
Dane Paterson
The hard-working Cobras seamer bowled poorly in the one-day matches against England A, getting pasted for runs at over six per over.
But he made an immediate impact with the red ball, delivering a magnificent spell of 7/27 in the warm-up match against Hampshire.
Hopefully that gives Paterson some confidence in the conditions.
Tabraiz Shamsi
The left-arm wrist spinner will once again be used by the Proteas as their “mystery” bowler.
Yet his opportunities on the A-tour have been limited.
In fact, he’s only bowled once on the whole tour and took 1/65 in 10 overs.
Proteas T20 squad: AB de Villiers (c), Farhaan Behardien, Reeza Hendricks, Imran Tahir, David Miller, Morne Morkel, Chris Morris, Mangaliso Mosehle, Wayne Parnell, Dane Paterson, Andile Phehlukwayo, Dwaine Pretorius, Tabraiz Shamsi, Jon-Jon Smuts.
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