BRIDGETOWN, Barbados, CMC – Four players were expected to arrive in the Caribbean this weekend and another next week to complete South Africa’s 16-man squad for the limited overs series against West Indies which bowls off next Wednesday.
Following South Africa’s failure to progress to the semi-final of the World Twenty20 Championship, the selectors have axed Herschelle Gibbs, Albie Morkel, Rusty Theron and Rory Kleinveldt and replaced them with Hashim Amla, Alviro Petersen, Ryan McLaren and Lonwabo Tsotsobe.
With fast bowler Wayne Parnell still not fully fit, the selectors have also made the bold move of calling up untested 20-year-old batsman David Miller who is expected to joint the side in Antigua next week.
The tour will bowl off with two Twenty20 Internationals in St John’s on Wednesday and Thursday, with the first two One-Day Internationals of the five-match series scheduled for May 22 and 24.
“Unfortunately Wayne Parnell has not recovered sufficiently from injury for this segment of the tour and we are now targeting for the three-match Test series next month,” said Andrew Hudson, convenor of Cricket South Africa’s selection panel.
“But it does create an opportunity to try out another youngster at international level. We have specifically opted for Miller because we are looking to strengthen our power-hitting in the middle order.
“David has impressed in this role for the Nashua Dolphins in both the MTN40 and the Standard Bank Pro20 competitions.”
Amla, meanwhile, comes into the squad from scoring heavily for Nottinghamshire in the English County Championship while big left-arm swing bowler Lonwabo Tsotsobe and batsman Alviro Petersen played for South Africa A in the just concluded Tri-Nation Limited Overs series in Bangladesh against the hosts and West Indies A.
Ryan McLaren, a 27-year-old left-hander who played the last of his five ODIs and two T20I last November, completes the new additions to the squad.
SQUAD – Graeme Smith (captain), Jacques Kallis, AB de Villiers, JP Duminy, Mark Boucher, Loots Bosman, Roelof van der Merwe, Morne Morkel, Dale Steyn, Charl Langeveldt, Johan Botha, Hashim Amla, Alviro Petersen, Ryan McLaren, Lonwabo Tsotsobe, David Miller.
