Marriage of old, new, borrowed and blue in SA WT20 squad

Times Media - February 18, 2014

TELFORD VICE, Johannesburg

Someone old, someone new, someone borrowed and something blue was the story of the squad announced yesterday for SA’s T20 series against Australia and the World T20 (WT20), both next month.

Albie Morkel fits the first bill. Last April, after his Cricket SA (CSA) contract had not been renewed in February, he voiced doubts that he would play international cricket again having last appeared in a green and gold shirt at the 2012 WT20.

Now he is back in the mix, and pleasantly surprised. “The message I got from CSA was that they were moving on,” Morkel said yesterday. “It was something I had made peace with, but it’s nice to know people can go back on their word.”

Selection convenor Andrew Hudson and SA T20 captain Faf du Plessis are talking Morkel up as the man who could put the Proteas in pole position in Bangladesh.

“From an experience point of view, we all now what Albie’s done around the world,” Hudson said. “He’s done well in sub-continent conditions and done well for a long time.”

For Du Plessis, “It’s really important that your No. 7 can bowl and come in to bat and be very destructive. Albie coming in after David Miller makes us one of the batting powerhouses, and he brings a lot of variety into our attack.”

Hudson said Morkel’s form on the domestic T20 scene “made it easy to pick him”. However, although he smashed 49 not out off 25 balls to help the Titans chase down 198 to beat the Warriors, he was 18th on the runscorers’ list and he took just two wickets.

But there is no doubting the value of his 253 games in the format, 92 of them played for the Chennai Super Kings in conditions similar to those that SA will encounter at the WT20. Importantly for Morkel’s role as a finisher, he has been not out in 31 of his 70 innings for the Indian Premier League outfit.

The someone new in the squad is Beuran Hendricks, the exciting Cobras left-arm quick who was the most deadly bowler in the T20 competition this season with 28 scalps at an average of 10.28.

Imran Tahir is someone borrowed - from Pakistan, where he was born. “Imran gives us the x-factor,” Hudson said. “Often in T20s it’s easy to hit the orthodox spinners: you get down the wicket and you know what the ball is doing. Sometimes, when there’s doubt it creates opportunities.

“Imran has done well in the sub-continent; he seems to pick up when he’s bowling there.”

Tahir has not fulfilled SA’s hopes that he would be an attacking spinner consistent enough to succeed at international level. But he showed good confidence in SA’s three T20s in Sri Lanka in August, where he took three wickets at an economy rate of 5.25 in three games.

As for something blue, that would be the bruise of past failures that SA - who have won only one major trophy since readmission in 1991 - must carry.

“I’ve have been through this before where there are high expectations and we get knocked out and we get called all sorts of names,” Morkel said.

Like his teammates, Morkel will hope hard that, this time, those names will be complimentary.

SA WT20 squad: Faf du Plessis (captain), Hashim Amla, Farhaan Behardien, Quinton de Kock, AB de Villiers, JP Duminy, Beuran Hendricks, Imran Tahir, David Miller, Albie Morkel, Morne Morkel, Wayne Parnell, Aaron Phangiso, Dale Steyn, Lonwabo Tsotsobe.