England tour of South Africa
Ongoing England tour of South Africa from December 17 to February 16 which consists 6 Tests,5 ODI,3 T20’s.
Dale Steyn has been not in the squad for nearly a year due to his shoulder injury. Dale was named in the T20 squad to face England in the upcoming 3 match series. Faf du Plessis and Kagiso Rabada continue to be rested and replaced by Pite van Biljon and pacer Sisanda Magala. This is their maiden International call to be in squad led by Quinton de Kock.
Due to the out-standing peformance in T20 Domestic circuit 30 year old Pite van Biljon makes his way to the squad. Meanwhile Sisanda Magala has to pass his fitness test to ensure his presence in the squad.
CSA Acting Director of Cricket
Graeme Smith said: “We are pleased with the group that we have selected for this upcoming T20 series against England. We have once again taken the opportunity to reward some of the hard workers of our domestic franchise system while some of our key senior players continue with their much-needed rest period and we have again, put our faith in Quinton (de Kock) to lead this group of exciting cricketers, picking up where he left off in India where he showed exemplary leadership”.
“England have of course announced a competitive team and we are comfortable that we have the squad that can take them on and return positive results. With a T20 World Cup not too far away, we have begun the process of identifying several players whom we will be looking at over a period of time and hope that by the time September comes along, we will have the best possible squad of 15 representing South Africa”.
Selection chief
Linda Zondi was a selector for the South African team that won the U-19 World Cup in 2014 held at UAE, said:”The squad we have selected is a good indicator of the talent that we boast in our country. CSA believes in rewarding hard work and consistently good performances that have been put in by players over a period of time”.
They also concluded that: “This is why we are thrilled to include Sisanda Magala and Pite van Biljon to the T20 squad as we go about our search for that T20 World Cup 15. Both have been outstanding for their respective franchise teams in the past and we are keen to see how they do against an imposing English side”.
“We are also pleased to give extended opportunities to players who have performed well within the national team as our show of commitment to them”.
