Herschelle Gibbs and Makhaya Ntini axed after Champions Trophy flop

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• Gibbs and Ntini the highest-profile absentees • McLaren and Petersen come in as replacements Herschelle Gibbs and Makhaya Ntini have been dropped from the South Africa one-day squads to face Zimbabwe and England next month as the Proteas look to the future. South Africa's chief selector Mike Procter described the decision to axe the experienced pair as difficult, but one that needed to be made. The Proteas today unveiled separate squads for their first five ODIs of the season - two against Zimbabwe and three with England next month, along with two Twenty20s against Andrew Strauss's team. Robin Peterson is the third absentee from the squad which contested the ICC Champions Trophy, with uncapped fast bowler Ryan McLaren, opener Alviro Petersen and seamer Charl Langeveldt coming in at their expense. "It is never easy to leave out senior players, particularly when they are men of the calibre of Herschelle Gibbs and Makhaya Ntini who have given such wonderful service over a long period of time," said Procter, the convener of selectors. "But we also have to keep looking forward and reward those players who are knocking strongly on the door. Although we have chosen these squads for the Zimbabwe series as well as the first three matches against England, we are flexible and reserve the right to add other players as we think fit." Gibbs, 35, has played in 245 ODIs and scored more than 8,000 runs for the Proteas since his debut in 1996, while 32-year-old Ntini is a veteran of 173 ODIs, taking 266 wickets since his first appearance in 1998. The pair will also miss the two Twenty20 internationals against England, where uncapped Heino Kuhn has been included alongside Loots Bosman, who last represented his country 12 months ago. Kuhn, a wicketkeeper-batsman who also opens the batting for his franchise Titans, gets his chance after impressing in the 20-over format of the game and his selection also indicates that the selectors are now looking for a successor for Mark Boucher behind the stumps. Procter revealed that all the players in the 15-man Twenty20 side were likely to feature during the series. He added: "The aim is for all 15 players to get a run in the two Pro20 matches against England." South Africa face Zimbabwe in the first of two matches on 8 November, followed by the two Twenty20s against England - the opening game is on 13November - and five one-day internationals beginning on 20 November. South Africa one-day squad: Graeme Smith (captain), Hashim Amla, Johan Botha, Mark Boucher, AB de Villiers, JP Duminy, Jacques Kallis, Charl Langeveldt, Ryan McLaren, Albie Morkel, Wayne Parnell, Alviro Petersen, Dale Steyn, Lonwabo Tsotsobe, Roelof van der Merwe. Twenty20 squad: Graeme Smith (captain), Yusuf Abdulla, Loots Bosman, Johan Botha, Mark Boucher, AB de Villiers, JP Duminy, Jacques Kallis, Heino Kuhn, Charl Langeveldt, Ryan McLaren, Albie Morkel, Wayne Parnell, Dale Steyn, Roelof van der Merwe. Link

[Sachinism]

Langeveldt is back :yay:

[Lord]

Ntini flop in CT?he didnt even get a game

[Malcolm Merlyn]

no morne morkel

[DomainK]

Damn, I will miss Gibbs and his hitting.