Peter Robinson Allan Donald, South African cricket’s prodigal son, should be welcomed back to the fold on Friday. If he isn’t, Rushdie Magiet and his selection panel deserve to have all six of their heads banged together.
Donald took off the South African winter to play for Warwickshire this year. He skipped the three-Test series against Sri Lanka (and passed up a chance to reach 300 Test wickets), a one-day tournament against the hated Australians and the shopping trip to Singapore. Magiet and his panel are now choosing the squad to take part in the International Cricket Council (ICC) knockout tournament in Nairobi next month. It would be stretching a point to describe the event as the most important thing to happen to South African cricket this year, but everyone will be at this particular party – along with hosts Kenya – and, as trophies go, this one is perfectly respectable enough. Donald, meanwhile, is back under contract from October 1 and, while he has little need to prove his credentials, Kenya provides the perfect opportunity to strap him back in the saddle. Magiet stopped short of confirming Donald’s place in the squad earlier this week, but he conceded that Nairobi would be a good place to give the fast bowler a run before returning home to take on New Zealand. Indeed, the first one-dayer against the Kiwis is slated for October 20 in Potchefstroom, just five days after the Nairobi final. Magiet said that at the beginning of the year the selectors had seen the indoor series against Australia as the cut-off point from which to start building towards World Cup 2003. At that stage, though, they had been unaware of the ICC tournament. The lone injury doubt concerns Mark Boucher and his sliced-up fingers. Boucher is likely to be chosen with Nic Pothas on standby.
Magiet did suggest South Africa might include two spinners in what is expected to be a 14-man squad. Nicky Boje will clearly be one, but a place could well be found for Derek Crookes, whose all-round qualities make him the obvious choice as back-up tweaker.
For the rest, Jonty Rhodes should be back; Roger Telemachus had his best few weeks yet in Australia and Singapore; and there will be discussion over Daryll Cullinan’s position, especially with Neil McKenzie and Boeta Dippenaar now hanging about the middle order. Personally, I’d like Dippenaar to be given a run as a Test opener while McKenzie is left down the order. But I don’t get to pick the sides.
ENDS