Cricket South Africa have included pacer Duanne Oliver and all-rounder Chris Morris to the 15-man squad for the 3rd Test against Australia which will be played at Newlands Cape Town. The four-match rubber is levelled 1-1 at the moment as the Proteas bounced back in the Port Elizebeth Test to win the match by six wickets.
Kagiso Rabada inclusion in the squad remains stable as no decision has yet been made by the International Cricket Council (ICC).
“Circumstances have forced us to name a large squad at this stage so that we can cover all possible options,” commented CSA National Selection Panel Convener Linda Zondi. “Once we have finalised our playing XI we will release players to their franchises for the final round of the Sunfoil Series.
“We have retained the 15 players who produced an excellent performance to level the Test Series in Port Elizabeth. Olivier was the pick of our bowlers for South Africa A in their tour match against Australia while Morris has been in excellent form in domestic cricket, taking four wickets in an innings and making more than 150 runs, including a century, for the Multiply Titans in the Sunfoil Series against the log-leading Warriors,” concluded Zondi.
Rabada was suspended for the remaining two Test matches of the ongoing series against the Steve Smith led Australia team after being found guilty of a level 2 ICC code of conduct offence of 'inappropriate and deliberate physical contact with a player'.
Rabada made physical contact by bumping his shoulder into the Australia skipper during the 2nd Test. The Proteas pacer received a fine of 50 per cent of his match fee and three demerit points after disciplinary hearing following his denial of the charge.
He was subsequently handed another demerit point for a send-off given to David Warner in Australia's second innings, taking his total demerit points to nine.
South Africa squad: Faf du Plessis (c), Hashim Amla, Temba Bavuma, Quinton de Kock, Theunis de Bruyn, AB de Villiers, Dean Elgar, Heinrich Klaasen, Keshav Maharaj, Aiden Markram, Morne Morkel, Chris Morris, Willem Mulder, Lungisani Ngidi, Duanne Olivier, Vernon Philander, Kagiso Rabada.
