The Proteas’ squad for late February to mid-March 2023’s Test series against the West Indies was announced on Friday.
There were several notable exclusions.
1. Kyle Verreynne
Verreynne was South Africa’s third-highest Test run-scorer in 2022. He scored their second-most runs on the recent Test tour of Australia. Heinrich Klaasen played one Test in Australia, scoring two and 35.
“Kyle’s omission was tough but ultimately I get paid to make certain calls and subjectivity plays a part,” said new Test coach Shukri Conrad.
“This was my conversation with Kyle. He’s done everything that can be expected. But I think Klaasen has done more and deserves a full crack.
“Klaasen is, in my opinion, not just a batter that we can stick in the field. He’s been battling with an elbow because he’s been forced to be in the field a lot of the time.
“I’ve always viewed him as a wicketkeeper-batter, so for me it was a straight shootout as to who I wanted. And that’s Klaasen. That’s unfortunate for someone like Kyle. The door is certainly not closed to him.”
2. Lungi Ngidi
Ngidi is averaging three wickets per Test since debuting in 2018. Gerald Coetzee was the third-highest wicket-taker in the recent SA20.
“It’s purely Gerald ahead of Lungi right now. It’s quite simple for me. I think Gerald needs a good run. We all know the promise that Gerald holds, and now’s as good a time as ever to unleash him,” said Conrad.
South Africa’s series against the West Indies will feature two Tests. Centurion will host the first and the Johannesburg the second.
“Without giving too much away, I’d like to think that I’d be in a position to play all our quick bowlers in Centurion. Depending on what the Wanderers throws up, that XI might change,” added Conrad.
3. Sarel Erwee
Erwee averaged 26.61 after 19 Test innings. South Africa have effectively replaced him with the recalled Aiden Markram. Opener Tony de Zorzi, who is uncapped at international level and the leading run-scorer in division one of the 2022-23 4-Day Domestic Series, has also been named in the squad.
“For those that have been in my corner and those that have made the sacrifices, thank you. I hope I made you proud,” wrote Erwee on social media.
Conrad said: “People are always going to be behind Aiden or they are going to say he flatters to deceive. I’m in the former group. Aiden’s going to open the batting.”
“He’s a wonderful cricketer and a stroke-player. Aiden and I go back a long way, so I know his character. We’ve got to match characters to our selections and the type of cricket we want to play. I say emphatically that he will open the batting with Dean Elgar.”
4 and 5. Rassie van der Dussen and Khaya Zondo
Van der Dussen just played one of the three Tests during the recent tour of Australia, scoring five and a duck.
Zondo played the full series and averaged 20.25.
“Nobody is injured. We had a full complement to select from. Everybody is fit and ready to go, and this is what we’ve come up with,” concluded Conrad.
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