• SA vs England: Who to select?

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    Ahead of the second Test between South Africa and England at Newlands, we asked our SACricketmag team to pick their Proteas starting XIs. Dale Steyn was on Friday ruled out through injury.

    Kobus Pretorius
    JP Duminy is the man to lose his place to accommodate Quinton de Kock. Duminy has been disappointing of late and needs to get back to form before he’s selected. His technique against orthodox off-spin again let him down in Durban where he was caught at slip. He tends to leave the blade of his bad ‘too open’ and that allows the off-spinner to find the edge when the ball turns away from him.
    Team: Dean Elgar, Stiaan van Zyl, Hashim Amla (c), AB de Villiers, Faf du Plessis, Temba Bavuma, Quinton de Kock (wk), Kyle Abbott, Kagiso Rabada, Dane Piedt, Morne Morkel

    Tom Sizeland
    I wouldn’t do a massive overhaul, but Quinton de Kock must come straight in. Give him the gloves, put him at No 7 and drop JP Duminy, who is struggling with the bat and bowled just one over in Durban. Stiaan van Zyl has one more chance before the selectors look elsewhere. I think England would have been happy to have seen Kagiso Rabada left out of the first Test. He has genuine pace and is still relatively unknown, which could cause the English some problems. He must play with Morkel, irrespective of injuries. If Abbott and doesn’t recover in time, I would put Hardus Viljoen in there instead of Chris Morris. Morris didn’t impress for SA A against England, while Viljoen has taken two 10-wicket hauls in a row. Forget Morris’s potential with the bat, if you need a bowler, then pick the best bowler.
    Team:     Dean Elgar, Stiaan van Zyl, Hashim Amla (c), AB de Villiers, Faf du Plessis, Temba Bavuma, Quinton de Kock (wk), Kagiso Rabada, Kyle Abbott/Hardus Viljoen, Dane Piedt, Morne Morkel.

    Alviro Petersen
    I would make only two changes for Newlands. Quinton de Kock should come in to take the wicketkeeping gloves from AB de Villiers and in doing so replace one of the middle order batsmen. Kagiso Rabada is the natural replacement for Dale Steyn,.
    Team: Dean Elgar, Stiaan van Zyl, Hashim Amla (c), AB de Villiers, Faf du Plessis, Temba Bavuma/JP Duminy, Quinton de Kock (wk), Kagiso Rabada, Kyle Abbott, Dane Piedt, Morne Morkel.

    Gary Lemke
    The selectors have made two changes to the squad that lost in Durban, bringing in Quinton de Kock, presumably for the wicketkeeping duties. He was not initially included in the squad for the first two Tests but the selectors have had a rethink. Rightfully so. He must be ushered straight into the starting XI. Chris Morris has been added to the squad, but Morris has, up to now, looked a more effective bowler in the T20 and ODI formats than the five-day game and I can’t see him starting. Kagiso Rabada must come in to the side as he offers something South Africa need: energy, pace and fire. I’d keep Stiaan van Zyl as opener as Newlands is his home ground and therefore the man to lose out is Temba Bavuma. JP Duminy also calls Newlands home and expect him to have a better match.
    Team: Dean Elgar, Stiaan van Zyl, Hashim Amla (capt), AB de Villiers, Faf du Plessis, JP Duminy, Quinton de Kock (wk), Kagiso Rabada, Kyle Abbott, Dane Piedt, Morne Morkel.

     

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