11 March, 2009

Neil McKenzie South Africa's selectors have dropped Neil McKenzie and Morne Morkel for the third Test against Australia in Cape Town as they look for a way forward following the series loss on Tuesday.

Vice-captain Ashwell Prince has been recalled and will captain the side as well as open in the absence of Graeme Smith, who broke a finger in his right hand during the second Test in Durban, while there are also call-ups for uncapped pair Imraan Khan and Wayne Parnell.

Convenor of selectors Mike Proctor said: "Ashwell is delighted to be back in the side and to assume the captaincy in Graeme's place.

"Ashwell will take over the captaincy from Graeme and will also fill his position of opening batsman.

"We felt that it was best just to make one change than to change the top order, which would have involved moving several players around."

McKenzie and Morkel have both been well below par against the Australians in the first two matches at home and were also relatively ineffective on the recent tour Down Under, where the former averaged only 24.20 with the bat while the latter managed 42.66 with the ball.

Khan, the opening batsman for the Dolphins, is almost certain to make his debut after an impressive season for his province and scoring a century for a President's XI against Ricky Ponting's team in a tour match.

Proctor continued: "Imraan Khan fully deserves his chance. He scored his third century of the season in the Supersport Series at the weekend - the only player to do so - and is the only batsman to have scored more than 600 runs with an average just above the 60 mark."

Warriors paceman Parnell, who played for the Proteas during the one-day leg of their tour to Australia, is likely to fight for the final spot in the team with all-rounder Albie Morkel.

"We are following the same route with Wayne Parnell as we did with Lonwabo Tsotsobe," added Proctor. "They have both benefited enormously from being part of the national squad.

"We feel that the best thing for Morne Morkel at the moment is to go back to the Titans and play a few rounds of domestic cricket. He remains very much part of our plans going forward."

Meanwhile, the selectors have also named a 15-man squad for the two Twenty20 internationals against Australia, with two uncapped players included in fast bowler Yusuf Abdulla and all-rounder Roelof van der Merwe.

The rest of the team has a familiar look with Jacques Kallis and Makhaya Ntini being rested.


Procter concluded: "We have rewarded players who have done well in the Standard Bank Pro20 domestic competition and they will all get a game in one of the matches at least.

"We have recognised that Pro20 is a different form of the game from ODIs, being a very fast game. Our record has not been particularly good of late in this format and this is our last chance to identify players before the ICC World T20.

"It is not just a question of seeing how they do in matches but also to give the management team the chance to assess all aspects of their respective games."

South Africa team for the third Test: Ashwell Prince (captain), Imraan Khan, Hashim Amla, Jacques Kallis, AB de Villiers, JP Duminy, Mark Boucher, Paul Harris, Albie Morkel, Dale Steyn, Makhaya Ntini, Wayne Parnell.

South Africa Twenty20 squad: Johan Botha (captain), Yusuf Abdulla, Hashim Amla, Mark Boucher, AB de Villiers, JP Duminy, Herschelle Gibbs, Johann Louw, Albie Morkel, Justin Ontong, Wayne Parnell, Robin Peterson, Dale Steyn, Roelof van der Merwe, Vaughn van Jaarsveld.