Ken Borland

Keegan Petersen revealed himself as one of South Africa’s brightest batting talents in the series against India, but the man who made the No.3 position his own has now suffered the disappointment of being ruled out of the tour to New Zealand due to a positive Covid test. This does, however, potentially open the way for an exciting young batsman like Ryan Rickelton to make his long-awaited debut.

Petersen, who is asymptomatic, has been replaced in the squad by Western Province talent Zubayr Hamza.

But Petersen’s misfortune, announced on the morning of the team’s departure for New Zealand, could well be just the break the 25-year-old Rickelton has been waiting for. The Central Gauteng Lions batsman has been part of the Proteas squad since the tour to Pakistan a year ago, but is yet to catch a game.

Rickelton has been in exceptional form in the domestic four-day competition this season, and scores of 90 and a match-saving 102 not out for the Lions against Western Province at Newlands last weekend took his tally this summer to 473 runs in five innings, at an average of 118.25, with three centuries.

But as much as one would like to see a new talent on the international stage, you have to wonder if the Proteas selectors won’t use Petersen’s absence as a lifeline for Aiden Markram.

Markram has scored just 140 runs in his last nine innings, with one half-century, and there was a strong possibility he was going to lose his opening spot in New Zealand to the uncapped Sarel Erwee, who is averaging 86 in four-day cricket this season.

But both Markram and Erwee could conceivably fill Petersen’s No.3 spot. Rickelton is also a top-order batsman, comfortable in the top three, but choosing two uncapped batsmen in Erwee and Rickelton could be too much of a risk for the selectors, so it will be interesting to see which option they choose.

Duanne Olivier, Ryan Rickelton and Wiaan Mulder were all left out of the Proteas white-ball squad for the Indian whitewash and they will be key players as the Central Gauteng Lions now travel to Cape Town to take on Western Province from Thursday in an attempt to hang on to top spot after the penultimate round of the CSA 4-Day Domestic Series.

The Lions suffered their first defeat of their campaign in their last match, going down by eight wickets as the KZN Dolphins chased down 260 at Kingsmead. But there is no reason to fear that the Lions have lost their mojo: They were in control of the match from the start, declaring in both innings and gambled in the final innings, knowing that a win would have almost assured them of the title. But the Kingsmead pitch can get pretty flat when the north-easterly blows.

Instead, the Eastern Province Warriors, who beat Boland by 168 runs, have closed to within 1.80 points on the log and they now travel to Durban to take on the Dolphins.

But the return of Olivier, still the leading wicket-taker in the competition, means the Lions have a fearsome attack that also includes the fire of Lutho Sipamla, the cunning of Malusi Siboto, the swing bowling of Mulder and the spin of Bjorn Fortuin.

If Newlands is flat, one can also expect the powerful Lions top-order, Rickelton joining Dominic Hendricks, Josh Richards and Reeza Hendricks, to cash in. Richards is the tournament’s leading run-scorer with 413 at an average of 82, while the other three are all averaging over 40.

Western Province are expected to field potential match-winners in Zubayr Hamza and Wayne Parnell, and they will be hoping they can score big alongside David Bedingham and Tony de Zorzi.

The Northerns Titans travel to Bloemfontein to take on the Free State Knights full of confidence and hope after their eight-wicket win over North-West in Potchefstroom lifted them back into contention, just less than 20 points behind the Lions.

Northerns will need a full house of points from the last two rounds to snatch the title from the pace-setting Lions and the charging Eastern Province team, but they will bring an attack full of threats to Bloemfontein.

Lizaad Williams, having just returned to full fitness and picking up six wickets against North-West, unfortunately has a side-strain, but talented fast bowler Okuhle Cele returns to action. There is pace backing from Corbin Bosch and Junior Dala, and swing from Aya Gqamane. One can expect off-spinner Simon Harmer, backed by slow left-armer Neil Brand, to play a key role, especially since his recall to the Proteas squad.

The Titans batting, led by Heinrich Klaasen and Grant Mokoena, has also been full of runs this season.

The other Division One game sees Boland hosting North-West.

The welcome return of Duanne Olivier and call-ups for Prenelan Subrayen, Sisanda Magala and Ryan Rickelton were the most exciting aspects of the Proteas squad announced on Tuesday for the Test series against India.

Olivier last played for South Africa in February 2019 in the shock Test series loss to Sri Lanka. He then became a Kolpak player, but with that drain on resources thankfully coming to an end, he has returned home and is the leading wicket-taker in four-day cricket this season, with 28 scalps at 11.14 for the log-leading Central Gauteng Lions.

The 29-year-old Olivier has taken 48 wickets in 10 Tests at an average of just 19.25. His inclusion means the Proteas could field a most inhospitable trio of mean and nasty fast bowlers, alongside Anrich Nortje and Kagiso Rabada.

Subrayen is the leading off-spinner in the country and bowled the Dolphins to the four-day title last season with his match figures of 10/80 against the Titans. But India, who are yet to announce their Test squad, do not have many left-handers in the reckoning, so the 28-year-old’s selection can be considered something of a surprise.

Magala has played white-ball cricket for the Proteas, but has also been in fine form in the four-day series for the Lions with 15 wickets at 14.33. Another Lions star, Rickelton, has been named in a few national squads but has yet to earn a cap. Given that he is in fine form, having scored two centuries in three innings this season, his debut will surely come soon.

The regular crew are all there in an expanded 21-man squad due to Covid bubbles, with the most notable omission being Lutho Sipamla, who has taken 12 wickets this season for the Lions at 13.50.

While most of the starting XI will choose itself, coach Mark Boucher and the selectors will be gearing up for a tricky decision in terms of one batting spot.

While Elgar, Markram, Bavuma, Van der Dussen and De Kock are all sure of their spots, the other specialist batting spot is a toss-up between Keegan Petersen, Kyle Verreynne and Rickelton.

Petersen is the incumbent and, although he only scored 44 runs in three innings in the West Indies, they were tough batting conditions and he is averaging 50.20 for the KZN Dolphins this season.

While the fiery aggression of Olivier is a tantalising prospect, especially for SuperSport Park and the Wanderers, the selectors may want their third frontline seamer to offer something a bit different – either the control and seam movement of a Glenton Stuurman or the left-arm pace and bounce of the exciting Marco Jansen. Both have been in good form for the SA A team against India A.

Proteas squad: Dean Elgar, Aiden Markram, Sarel Erwee, Temba Bavuma, Rassie van der Dussen, Keegan Petersen, Kyle Verreynne, Ryan Rickelton, Quinton de Kock, Wiaan Mulder, Keshav Maharaj, George Linde, Prenelan Subrayen, Kagiso Rabada, Anrich Nortje, Duanne Olivier, Marco Jansen, Glenton Stuurman, Lungi Ngidi, Sisanda Magala, Beuran Hendricks.

Ryan Rickelton celebrated his inclusion in the Proteas squad for the first time with a marvellous unbeaten century to take the Imperial Lions to a bonus-point victory over the Cape Cobras in their Momentum One-Day Cup match in Potchefstroom on Friday.

Rickelton thoroughly dominated the bowling as he stroked an impressive 109 not out off 98 deliveries, as the Lions chased down their target of 222 in just 39.2 overs with six wickets to spare. The 24-year-old Rickelton is one of the country’s brightest young batting talents and this week he was named in the Proteas squad for the T20s in Pakistan, his maiden international call-up.

Opening the batting, Rickelton and Wesley Marshall (28) gave the Lions a solid start by raising the 50 in the 10^th over, before the Cobras struck back with two wickets in four overs. But an inspired stand of 98 in 16.2 overs between Rickelton and Dominic Hendricks (54 off 61 balls) put the Lions within sight of victory.

Rickelton completed his third century in 50-over cricket and a brisk 22 from Nicky van den Bergh ensured the bonus point was gained.

The Cobras, having won the toss and elected to bat first, made a good start, Janneman Malan’s well-controlled 67 off 94 balls driving them to 121 for two after 28 overs. But the Lions attack, bowling straighter and fuller than they had been earlier, fought back impressively by taking regular wickets.

It was fine all-round effort by the Lions attack, but Eldred Hawken, in his first game this season, recovered from a rusty start to lead the pacemen with one for 26 in eight overs, and captain Aaron Phangiso took care of the middle overs, taking two for 33 in his 10 excellent overs of left-arm spin.

Debutant Jean du Plessis scored 34 and Christiaan Jonker struck a quickfire 33 off 35 balls, but the Cobras batsmen were generally lacking enough intent against the tight Lions bowling.

The Cobras will also leave Senwes Park for the bio-bubble feeling they had a raw deal when it came to lbw decisions. Du Plessis looked unfortunate to be given out to Phangiso just as he was starting to accelerate, while Rickelton survived three appeals during his innings when the ball certainly looked wicket-bound.