A new broom has swept clean at the embattled Cape Cobras, with a re-jigged selection panel and team for Thursday’s Sunfoil Series clash against the Dolphins in Paarl.
Following the resignation of Alan Dawson as the convenor of selectors on Tuesday, the Cobras announced on Wednesday that the chairman of the playing affairs committee at the Western Cape Cricket board, Angelo Carolissen, will join coach Paul Adams, assistant Ashwell Prince and respective four-day and limited-overs captains Omphile Ramela and Justin Ontong as the selectors.
They faced immediate challenges for the Dolphins game, with Ramela suspended by Cricket South Africa for two matches (one suspended for a calendar year) for breaching the code of conduct, while Andrew Puttick is unavailable following the death of his father PJ on Sunday.
That means there is a new opening pair in Pieter Malan and Cebo Tshiki, while Zubayr Hamza has been dropped, with Keegan Petersen coming in to the middle-order and taking the wicket-keeping gloves. That should see Proteas left-hander Stiaan van Zyl shift up to No 3, with Jason Smith at four and Ontong at five.
All-rounder Rory Kleinveldt has been “rested”, according to a Cobras statement, which will see former SA Under-19 star Dayyaan Galiem make his franchise debut.
Malan has been in superb form for Western Province in the Sunfoil Cup three-day competition, having hit two double hundreds in three matches. The last one came at Boland Park last week, when he struck 204 not out against Boland. The 27-year-old, who attended Waterkloof High in Pretoria, boasts a healthy first-class average of 44.68 in 106 matches, and has 20 tons and 34 fifties to his name.
The Cobras have lost three out of their matches so far, but Adams urged his players to find some form ahead of the T20 Challenge, which starts on November 12.
“We’ll look to give opportunities to some younger players this week,” he said. “These are guys that have been putting up performances in the provincial side, and hopefully they can come in and grab this chance with the senior team.
“It’s important that we stay focused and try and take momentum into the next competition. It’s a long season ahead and we need to remain positive. The key message is that we need to string one performance together. I think if we can do that, it can be the start of change.
“We’ve had some games where we might have lost by big margins, but it’s actually small little mistakes that we’ve made that have triggered bigger problems. So we’ll hope to learn from that and play with a lot more intensity, which is what I would like to see.”
Squads For Paarl
Cape Cobras: Pieter Malan, Cebo Tshiki, Stiaan van Zyl, Jason Smith, Justin Ontong (captain), Keegan Petersen, Aviwe Mgijima, Dayyaan Galiem, Zakhele Qwabe, Dane Paterson, Dane Piedt.
Dolphins (from): Craig Alexander, Rabian Engelbrecht, Robbie Frylinck, Imraan Khan, Senuran Muthusamy, Andile Phehlukwayo, Morné van Wyk (captain), Mthokozisi Shezi, Daryn Smit, Imran Tahir, Vaughn van Jaarsveld, Divan van Wyk, Khaya Zondo.
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