The national selectors will be keeping one eye on their television sets on Thursday and the other on the only SuperSport Series match this weekend between the Nashua Titans and the Chevrolet Warriors at Willowmoore Park.
The reasoning is simple: most of the Proteas’ contracted players will be in action either at Willowmoore Park or in the opening match of the inaugural Champions’ League match in India between the Royal Challengers Bangalore and the Nashua Cape Cobras.
The Challengers can call up four Proteas in Jacques Kallis, Mark Boucher, Roelof van der Merwe and Dale Steyn not to mention a South African coach in Ray Jennings.
With the two-match International Pro20 series and the five-match ODI series against England both coming at the start of that tour in November, the selectors will doubtless be keen to evaluate the form both of the incumbent Proteas and those who are next in line.
The Cobras also have current Proteas in Herschelle Gibbs and JP Duminy, plus the likes of Charl Langeveldt and Monde Zondeki.
The Diamond Eagles are the other South African representatives in the Champions’ League and they possess some of South Africa’s best young talent in Rilee Rossouw, Dean Elgar, Reeza Hendricks, Ryan Bailey and Ryan McLaren.
With the exception of India-bound Steyn, the match at Willowmoore Park will feature the entire Proteas Test attack and most of the other bowlers on the periphery.
Willowmoore Park is certainly a favourite venue for the Titans pace attack while Paul Harris took nine wickets in his most recent outing there with his left arm spin.
The Warriors will also not be found wanting in either department with Makhaya Ntini, Lonwabo Tsotsobe and Wayne Parnell spearheading the pace attack and Johan Botha providing the bulk of the spin.
The most important point of all is that the selectors will be able to compare so many members of the potential seam attack under identical conditions and that does not happen that often.
The Cape Cobras play the Royal Challengers Bangalore on Thursday and the Otago Volts from New Zealand on Saturday. The Diamond Eagles play the New South Wales Blues from Australia on Friday and Sussex, the England champions, next Tuesday. — Sapa