http://www.senore.com/Cricket/India-c750
The Cricket South Africa has announced its 15-man squad for the first Test against India which starts in Centurion on December 16th. Inexperienced all-rounder http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Pakistan-c755
in the recently concluded two Test match series in the http://www.senore.com/Cricket/United-Arab-Emirates-c3033.
The 27-year-old McLaren has so far played only one Test and 10 One Day Internationals. His solitary Test appearance was against England in January earlier this year. The right-arm medium pacer, with 14 wickets at 20.57 in the SuperSport
Series, is the fifth highest wicket-taker in that tournament. Andrew Hudson, the convenor of CSA’s selectors praised McLaren’s domestic performances.
"McLaren has impressed in both formats of the domestic game played so far this season and has also come back into our thinking," said Hudson. "It is nice to bring Ryan back and we thought it was important to keep the rest of the guys together,"
he added.
Inclusion of the 27-year-old will put pressure on seamers Wayne Parnell and Lonwabo Tsotsobe who are also contesting for a spot in the South Africa attack.
Initially, the selectors decided to announce a 12-man squad for the entire Test series against India so that the rest of the players could focus on SuperSport Series' fixtures, which also get underway on 16th of December but changed
the plan as they wanted to keep the team together that played Pakistan in UAE.
The only fitness problems for the home side ahead of the opening Test against India are the skipper Graeme Smith and the prolific batsman Hashim Amla. The former fractured his ring finger during the Test series against Pakistan while the
latter sustained a contusion to his left forearm. It was expected that these injuries might rule the two out of the Centurion Test but Hudson revealed that both are fit and would play in the 1st Test.
"We were waiting to hear from our medical staff about the status of Graeme and Hashim's injuries but they are confident the pair will be fine," said Hudson.
The 15-man squad also includes two spinners, Paul Harris and http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Johan-Botha-c67173 but the convenor of selectors turned down the possibility of playing both of them as he said, "I think we will revert to our strength which means three seamers, one spinner and Jacques
Kallis (an all-rounder).”
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