SA Team for 3rd test : Axe falls on McKenzie and Morkel

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Proteas' chief selector Mike Procter has denied pushing the panic button after South Africa's big defeat at the hands of Australia. More... Axe falls on McKenzie and Morkel Stuart Hess March 11 2009 at 06:33AM On the face of it, the decision to cut Neil McKenzie and Morné Morkel from the side for the last Test against Australia in Cape Town starting next Thursday smacks of unnecessary panic on the part of the South African cricket selectors. South Africa have had such significant successes in the last 18 months, that one would have thought they'd built up a buffer to deal with the first bit of failure that came along - but clearly that wasn't the case. South Africa's first Test series defeat since August 2006 has seen McKenzie and Morkel dropped, with the former unlikely to play at international level again, while Morkel has been punished for numerous inconsistent performances dating back to the England series last year. However, national selection convener Mike Procter stressed that the decision to pick a totally new opening combination of KwaZulu Natal's Imraan Khan, who will make his debut, and Ashwell Prince, who has never opened the innings before, did not smack of panic. Procter said Prince, who will take over the captaincy from the injured Graeme Smith, needed to be accommodated somewhere and the best spot was opener. "If we didn't open with Ashwell, then how does he fit in the side?" asked Procter. "Do we push Hashim Amla up? Hashim doesn't want to open the batting; he's cemented he's place at No3. We could have shuffled the order around and maybe made one change, but we didn't want to do that." According to Procter, it was easier to introduce a brand new opening combination than mess around with the middle order. "I accept it is a bit of gamble having two new guys up front, but we didn't want to disrupt 3-4-5-6, who are pretty much cemented." What would happen if South Africa fell into a hole at Newlands against what will be a well-rested and confident Australian fast bowling attack, wasn't revealed. As a stopgap measure, this is all rather shaky. A less disruptive move would have been to keep McKenzie, bring in Prince and insist that Amla open - he did so reasonably well in the second innings of the second Test here at Kingsmead. And given Prince's seniority, did he not deserve to get the first call on where he wanted to bat? Morkel's axing is more understandable given his inconsistency with both bat and ball. "He just doesn't get enough balls in the right place, but his potential is certainly there," said Procter. Added skipper Smith: "He's got a lot of learning to do about himself. The more he bowls and plays, the more he'll understand his strengths and weaknesses and what he needs to do out in the middle. He does need some guidance, but he also needs some understanding for himself. A lot of that comes from inside yourself and understanding your action, what are your best lengths, your best lines and to know how things work for you." A bit like Morkel, things didn't work for South Africa in this series at all. Gone was the con- fident group that shocked the world in Australia. Instead, South Africa were inconsistent for large parts of each Test. "We haven't started with the same intensity and discipline, nor created enough pressure on their batters to the level that we did in the last 12 months and the way we did in Australia," said Smith. "In terms of our preparation, everything was done in exactly the same way as in the last 16 months, but we haven't achieved the same level of desperation in terms of executing our skills and keeping Australia under pressure for long periods and being prepared to do the dirty work. "For Australia, it's been the reverse - they've been able to do it for sustained periods and have really been hungry for success." South Africa will need to lick their wounds before the next Test. It remains to be seen whether the choices made by Procter and Co will prevent a 3-0 whitewash - an outcome that would be an unfair reflection of the closeness of the battles all summer. However, one cannot help but feel that those decisions will prove to be more unsettling for the team by the time the two sides meet again. SA squad for third Test: Ashwell Prince (capt), Hashim Amla, Mark Boucher, AB de Villiers, JP Duminy, Paul Harris, Jacques Kallis, Imraan Khan, Albie Morkel, Makhaya Ntini, Wayne Parnell, Dale Steyn. SA squad for Pro20 Internationals: 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.

[zubinpepsi]

lol... watta bunch of jokers.... they brought in a reserve middle order batsman as a captain and for th opening slot.. :ohno:

[DomainK]

Decided to press the panic button? I think they are always in a state of panic!!

[Donny]

lol... watta bunch of jokers.... they brought in a reserve middle order batsman as a captain and for th opening slot.. :ohno:

Was vice captain when he played his last Test. Is still rated #15 in the world after losing points by missing the last 5 Tests.

[Donny]

SA selectors change their minds Barely a day after he was given the captaincy of the Sth. African Test team for the 3rd. Test against the Aussies, Ashwell Prince has been replaced by Jacques Kallis.

[Mr. Wicket]

Must be great for team morale.