Veteran batsman Hashim Amla was on Thursday named in South Africa’s squad for the 2019 Cricket World Cup in England and Wales.
Amla, 36, will be playing in his third World Cup despite apoor run of recent form.
He was selected ahead of opening batsman Reeza Hendricks,who played in 18 consecutive one-day internationals before being dropped forthe country’s most recent match against Sri Lanka in March.
The 15-man squad was largely as predicted by most pundits,with Amla’s form the biggest talking point ahead of the announcement.
In keeping with a recent comment by Cricket South Africachief executive Thabang Moroe that racial quotas would not apply for the WorldCup, eight white players were selected. CSA has an official target of blackplayers making up 55 percent of teams.
South Africa’s campaign in the 2015 World Cup ended incontroversy over quotas when official pressure was exerted to pick VernonPhilander for a semi-final against New Zealand despite the team managementwanting to stay with the team that won a quarter-final against Sri Lanka, whenPhilander was injured.
Philander was picked ahead of the in-form Kyle Abbott, who subsequentlysigned a Kolpak contract with English county Hampshire.
“We are very happy with the squad we have been able to puttogether and have every confidence in their ability to do our country proud atthe World Cup,” said selection convener Linda Zondi.
“The fact that we have managed to win our last fiveseries in a row in this format against Zimbabwe, Australia, Pakistan and SriLanka twice underlines the quality of the team that Faf (du Plessis) will leadinto the contest.
“The final selection is also the result of a very rigoroussearch we have conducted, leaving no stone unturned, to make sure that we havemade the best use of the options available to us.
“We feel that Faf’s team is well equipped to handle whateverconditions are presented to them, bearing in mind the weather extremes one canencounter in the British Isles.”
Fast bowler Anrich Nortje gained selection after animpressive debut series against Sri Lanka, with Chris Morris missing outdespite outstanding form in the current Indian Premier League.
Zondi said Nortje and fellow fast bowler Lungi Ngidi wererecovering well from injury and were expected to be fit for a pre-tournamentcamp next month.
South Africa have reached the semi-finals in four of their seven World Cup campaigns but have lost six times in seven knock-out matches.