Russell Domingo remains a big fan of Wayne Parnell and hopes the all-rounder can put his injuries behind him.
Parnell has struggled with injuries of late but played for South Africa A against England on Wednesday night where he took 3-26 in four overs in a standout performance.
Domingo is keen to have a left-arm bowler at his disposal, especially in the shorter formats, with Beuran Hendricks being another option.
‘People know I’ve always been a big fan of Wayne Parnell,’ Domingo said. ‘He provides what you need in one-day cricket in terms of a lower batting order option and able to bowl at good pace. He’s a little bit like Chris Morris at times: he has ability, but is inconsistent. But things happen around them.
‘They take good catches, they bowl important spells but then bowl an average spell. They can contribute with the bat. I like that type of x-factor that he [Parnell] also brings. But he’s had a lot of injuries of late. The plan was to send him back to franchise cricket and perform there for a period of time before bringing him back into the national side again. Parnell and Beuran Hendricks are the two left-armers we look at and both have been injured.’
Domingo admitted that he prefers to have five frontline bowlers in T20 cricket, which has become more of a realistic option of late with Morris and David Wiese doing well in the ODI series against England.
‘I’ve always enjoyed having a good bowling attack in short format cricket; having five frontline bowlers,’ Domingo said. ‘I haven’t often had that, particularly in the ODI side, but I’ve always been a fan of having a really good bowling attack.
‘In my days at the Warriors we were fortunate. We had two spinners in [Nicky] Boje and [Johan] Botha, we had Makhaya [Ntini] and Rusty Theron. There was no easy let-off for opposition sides with the ball. We’ve struggled to find that balance all the time and finding the right personnel to fulfill that fifth bowler role who can provide us with an all-round option,’ he added.
‘We’ve done it with JP [Duminy] and Farhaan [Behardien] under certain conditions, some with success like we did in India. It was successful. Some with less success, like it was at the start of this series [against England].
‘I feel bowlers will win you a lot of contests. If you don’t have that the batting comes under a little bit of pressure. So that is something that I want to continue to explore.’
