CAPE TOWN: South Africa recalled hard-hitting all-rounder Albie Morkel (pictured right) yesterday in their squad for the World Twenty20 in Bangladesh starting next month.
The 32-year-old, older brother of fast bowler Morne, last played in the 20-over format for the Proteas at the previous World Twenty20 held in Sri Lanka in 2012.
South Africa have also included uncapped left-arm seamer Beuran Hendricks in their squad.
The Cape Cobras player set a record for the most wickets during the domestic Twenty20 competition concluded earlier this month with 28 from 11 matches at an economy rate of just over seven.
It is this form that also recently earned him a contract with King’s XI Punjab in the Indian Premier League (IPL).
“Beuran’s claims could not be ignored and the experience that Albie will bring on board is important for a high profile tournament of this nature,” convener of selectors Andrew Hudson said in a media release.
“The bulk of these players (11 out of 15) were part of our squad that won their Twenty20 series in Sri Lanka last year under similar conditions (to Bangladesh).”
The same squad, captained by Faf du Plessis, will be fielded for the three-match Twenty20 series against Australia starting on Mar 9.
Squad: Faf du Plessis (captain), Hashim Amla, Farhaan Behardien, Quinton de Kock, AB de Villiers, JP Duminy, Beuran Hendricks, Imran Tahir, David Miller, Albie Morkel, Morne Morkel, Wayne Parnell, Aaron Phangiso, Dale Steyn, Lonwabo Tsotsobe.
Meanwhile, Australia face a selection quandary with the return from injury of all-rounder Shane Watson for the second Test against South Africa, which starts on Thursday.
Watson exacerbated a calf injury on the eve of the first Test and watched from the stands as two players, selected since the recent Ashes whitewash of England, played valuable innings in Australia’s 281-run win in the first test in Pretoria over the weekend.
Shaun Marsh scored a century in his first Test appearance in two years while Alex Doolan came within 11 runs of a debut Test ton.
“We’ll have to see how Shane’s going in the next couple of days. We probably won’t have an idea until we get down there and train and see what’s happening,” said Australia coach Darren Lehmann as the team left for Port Elizabeth yesterday.
“Obviously we’ll have to see what the wicket is like; whether we need the extra bowling option.
“You’d like him to bowl. Firstly we’ve got to get him fit, and then we’ll see what happens from there. He’s pretty close; he was running on Sunday,” he said.
After the Test victory on Saturday, captain Michael Clarke said: “Fortunately I’m not a selector but it’s a nice problem to have. We’ll wait to see what the selectors come up with.” AGENCIES
