South Africa announce 14-man squad for Test series against West Indies
South Africa have named a 14-man squad to take on West Indies in the upcoming three-match Test series, starting on December 17. Left-arm spinner Robin Peterson has made a return to the Test squad. He wasn’t picked for the Test series against Sri Lanka which the Proteas won 1-0. Leg-spinner Imran Tahir has been dropped while youngsters Temba Bavuma and Kagiso Rabada have received their first ever call-ups to the national squad.
The fast bowling unit comprises of Dale Steyn, Morne Morkel, Vernon Philander and Kyle Abbott.
JP Duminy, who injured his knee during the ODI series vs Australia, hasn’t been included, but the left-hander could be available for the latter part of the series.
The medical committee will monitor the recovery process of both Duminy and Piedt and there is a reasonable chance that we will be able to consider JP for selection during the second half of the Test series," Cricket South Africa’s convenor of selectors, Andrew Hudson, said.
Stiaan van Zyl, who was part of South Africa’s tour of Zimbabwe and Sri Lanka earlier this year but didn’t feature in any of the games, has also been included.
“We have been very pleased with the way the Test squad has performed in its last three outings in Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe," Hudson said.
"Part of this has been the result of consistency in the selection process and also establishing a pecking order. Stiaan was the reserve batsman against Zimbabwe so he is the logical choice to replace Duminy,” he added.
"At the same time we want to bring players, whom we have identified as having international potential, into the team environment. This is a policy that has worked well in the past with the likes of Faf du Plessis, Dean Elgar and Quinton de Kock, among others.”
Both Bavuma and Rabada have impressed at franchise and South Africa A level, and they are ready to be considered for senior international duty.
Squad: Hashim Amla (capt), AB de Villiers (vice-capt), Alviro Petersen, Dean Elgar, Faf du Plessis, Stiaan van Zyl, Quinton de Kock, Vernon Philander, Robin Peterson, Dale Steyn, Morne Morkel, Temba Bavuma, Kyle Abbott, Kagiso Rabada