The Titans are in a different boat compared to the Dolphins when it comes to their team selection. Their best XI includes only Goolam Bodi and Behardien as the non-white cricketers, therefore sacrifices have to be made. Roelof v/d Merwe has had an excellent season so he stays. Pierre Joubert is the captain so he stays. Faf du Plessis is an up-and-coming so he stays. Then you have your internationals, Albie & Morne Morkel, Paul Harris, Andre Nel, AB de Villiers and Dale Steyn. These 11 names constitute Titans best limited-overs XI, although I would like to have included Martin van Jaarsveld if he was still around.
Dilemma. Only 2 of these players in the best XI meet the quota – sorry, “targets” – criteria. What to do. Imran Tahir would be a useful substitute for Paul Harris, but he is not “coloured” enough. So, Richard Pybus and company are left with trying to figure out who to drop. It has to be two bowlers as there are no coloured batsmen waiting in the wings in the northern part of the country.
“Andre Nel has been causing trouble with Norman Arendse, let’s drop him, that’s an easy one. We’ll bring in Etty Mbhalati to intimidate Graeme Smith and Herschelle Gibbs for the semi-final”.
“Well, we then have Brendan Reddy or Aaron Phangiso who can fill the other target spot. Lets go with Paul Harris since he had a bad Indian tour and put in Phangiso”.
There you have it, loyalty and hard work means nothing when it comes to selection in South African teams. Good luck Titans, and good luck to Messrs Phangiso and Mbhalati on destroying the Dolphins’ batting line-up. Sorry Andre, your aggression just has no place in the Titans team for now.
Tags: andre nel, cricket, dolphins, mbhalati, paul harris, phangiso, pybus, quota, reddy, selection, south africa, target, titans
