No to Lungi Ngidi, Matthew Breetzke, and Rassie van der Dussen. Yes, to Marco Jansen, Anrich Nortje, and Quinton de Kock. If you were unaware, you now know that Rob Walter is a gambler.
In the SA20 and CSA T20 Challenge this year, one of the top 10 run scorers was the seasoned and well-respected Van der Dussen. This year, Babar Azam is the only player in the world with more runs in the format. Van van Dussen, however, has failed to win Walter’s selection for the June T20 World Cup in the United States and the Caribbean.
Breetzke, who scored the most runs in the T20 Challenge and third-most in the SA20, hasn’t done so either. Nor Ngidi, even though he claimed more wickets in the SA20 than all but five other fast bowlers combined.
Despite his lackluster performance in the IPL and his jaded appearance, De Kock has been included, ranking 27th in the run-scoring standings. Nortje, who is also participating in the competition, has an economy rate of 13.36, which may be a result of the lumbar stress fracture that prevented him from playing from last September to this March. Considering that he has only participated in one IPL game, you may not have realized that Jansen is also there.
In a press conference on Tuesday, Walter refuted the notion that his team was the result of a tiring evening spent spinning the roulette wheel: “I’m not and never have been a betting man. However, I have faith in the players’ caliber. With one more month till the World Cup begins, Anrich will undoubtedly succeed. It’s encouraging to see that his speed has increased; with more playing and training, he should begin to regain his feeling. Marco is in the same situation. Quinny is a talented cricket player once more. He has consistently performed the task for us.”
How did Walter, the only selector in those formats and South Africa’s white-ball coach, come to his decision? “There are a number of factors to consider, including the squad composition, past and present performances, historical results going back further, and other circumstances that we may need to balance. Additionally, there is the trusted intuition of a coach.”
We are all susceptible to subjectivity, which is another issue. It’s simple to ignore the reality that Van der Dussen was outscored by 18 players in the SA20 and 22 in the T20 Challenge. Even if Ngidi’s own lumbar issue prevented him from playing in the IPL, he lacks Nortje’s capacity to bowl at 150 km/h. And that De Kock has scored three 50s in nine IPL innings, despite his current state of disarray.
It is not hard to aim at individual members of a team. It is more difficult to make an alternate argument that considers the balance of a side, the advantages and disadvantages of their opponents, and the most likely circumstances.
“I’ve chatted to probably 30-plus players in the last three days around selection and non-selection,” Walter stated. “We make every effort to stay in touch with those who we believe were in the running and who just missed the cut. Even though having great phone calls is pleasant, I feel bad for the guys who don’t get to experience it. Good people are putting a lot of effort into their games in order to fulfill their dream of competing in a World Cup. It is my responsibility to inform them that won’t occur. Dealing with that reality is difficult for me, but it’s much more difficult for them.”
The team to play three Twenty20 Internationals (T20Is) in the Caribbean against the West Indies before to the World Cup was also announced, though there may be alterations depending on which South Africans are available following the IPL league stage. Van der Dussen, Ngidi, and 21-year-old leg spinner Nqaba Peter, who brightened up an otherwise dowdy T20 Challenge by taking 20 wickets in 10 games at an economy rate of 5.84 and an average of 9.50, are included in this squad.
Walter has until May 25 to make adjustments to the World Cup roster. Although it seems improbable, those who will be watching the Windies series and missed out wouldn’t be human if they didn’t hope that the coach would reconsider.
Walter will undoubtedly face more criticism given that the World Cup 15 only has six players of color, with only one of them being black. This is made worse by the revelation that Temba Bavuma is not fit for the demands of batting in the format. Black Bavuma led South Africa’s catastrophic 2022 T20 World Cup campaign as captain.
Finding a cure is not always simple. Even if Sibonelo Makhanya and Rivaldo Moonsamy finished in the top 10 for runs scored in the T20 Challenge, how do they get a spot if Van der Dussen doesn’t? Simu Simetu, a left-arm orthodox spinner like Keshav Maharaj and Bjorn Fortuin, led the competition in wicket-taking.
“My number one imperative is to create a winning Proteas team,” Walter stated. “Every time I select a side, I have to select the best team available that I believe will give us a chance to accomplish it. Having said that, the [domestic] system needs to step up so that our team’s demographics change in six, twelve, or even two years, and especially when we host the 2027 World Cup.
“Outside of the World Cup we’ll continue to use our bilateral series to do exactly that – to grow our base of players, to create international opportunity, to give opportunity for players to take their skills to a higher level, and make sure that we’ve bought into and are delivering on a process that’s going to change what our team looks like as we move forward.”
Because Walter is white, his judgments will be closely scrutinized in South Africa, a country divided by race. Though the responsibility ends with him, it must first pass via Enoch Nkwe, the director of cricket at CSA, who is a Black man. “No squad that I pick is selected without discussion with the director of cricket; it’s as simple as that,” Walter stated.
It is, of course, not so easy. In 1992, 1996, and 1999, South Africa had one brown player but no black player in their World Cup lineups. For both the 2010 edition of what is now known as the T20 World Cup and the 2003 ODI World Cup, five players of color were selected. Both the 2011 World Cup team and the 2009, 2012, and 2016 T20 rosters had six players who identified as black or brown. There were seven in the World Cups of 2007 and 2015 as well as in the T20 editions of 2007–2021, 2021, and 2022. Eight qualified for the 2019 and 2023 World Cups—the latter of which Walter also selected—as well as the 2014 T20 competition.
None of those teams, which were made up of the top players in South Africa, regardless of their race, were able to bring home a title. Thus, Walter’s claim that he is not a gambler may deserve credence. Who is he?
As Walter talked to reporters on Tuesday from New Zealand, where he and his family reside, he pointed to a clue on the wall behind his right shoulder. The message on the wooden sign said, “Dream big.”
Aiden Markram (captain), Ottniel Baartman, Gerald Coetzee, Quinton de Kock, Bjorn Fortuin, Reeza Hendricks, Marco Jansen, Heinrich Klaasen, Keshav Maharaj, David Miller, Anrich Nortje, Kagiso Rabada, Ryan Rickelton, Tabraiz Shamsi, and Tristan Stubbs are the men’s squads for South Africa for the T20 World Cup. Travel reserves: Lungi Ngidi, Nandre Burger.
T20I players against the West Indies: Ryan Rickelton, Andile Phehlukwayo, Tabraiz Shamsi, Bjorn Fortuin, Ottniel Baartman, Patrick Kruger, Wiaan Mulder, Lungi Ngidi, Nqaba Peter, and Rassie van der Dussen.
