Proteas ponder team selection ahead of crucial test at Newlands

South Africa are still unsure over two selections ahead of the crucial third test against Australia at Newlands today as captain Faf du Plessis hailed the “fair” process that made fast bowler Kagiso Rabada available for the game. Du Plessis said yesterday that allrounder Chris Morris and seamer Duanne Olivier had been released from the expanded 17-man squad, but the home side was still mulling over two positions. Middle-order batsman Temba Bavuma is fit again after a finger injury and is contesting a place with Theunis de Bruyn, who played in the first two tests but averaged only 19. “We have a lot of confidence in Temba. He has not had a lot of cricket recently but the quality is there and it is a good ground for him,” Du Plessis said. Bavuma scored his only test century at Newlands against England in 2016. The other position under discussion is that of seamer Lungi Ngidi and the more experienced Morne Morkel, with the former struggling with a toe problem having taken a match aggregate of 5/75 in the second test victory in Port Elizabeth. “Lungi bowled really well in the previous game, but he has got a bit of a toe problem. If he is not 100% then it is not a difficult decision,” Du Plessis said. Morkel announced he would retire from all forms of international cricket after this series, and sits on 297 test wickets. Du Plessis said that selection discussions always involved ensuring the side met the transformation goals of Cricket South Africa. “The first priority will be to try and get those balances right,” he said.

“But there are also always exceptions and horses for courses. It is important for me to always have that in the back of my mind.” South Africa’s chances of winning the test series were boosted by the availability of Rabada, who had a two-game suspension overturned on appeal by independent Judicial Commissioner Michael Heron on Tuesday. Australian captain Steve Smith has, meanwhile, criticised the lifting of the ban. Smith said ahead of yesterday’s pre-test media conference that a line in the sand had been drawn regarding physical contact and that he was surprised he had not been asked for his opinion during the appeal hearing. Rabada was banned for the remaining two tests in the series for brushing against Smith’s shoulder after taking his wicket in the second test. Australia spin bowler Nathan Lyon had said the team had “no dramas” with the decision, but Smith said: “I certainly think he [Rabada] bumped me a little bit harder than it actually looked on the footage.” Although Smith claimed it did not bother him too much, he went on to say: “They’ve obviously decided what’s deliberate contact and what’s not and apparently it wasn’t. “The ICC have set the standard, haven’t they? There was clearly contact out in the middle. “I certainly won’t be telling my bowlers to go out there and, after you take a wicket, go and get in their space. “I don’t think that is on as part of the game. But the standard has been set.”