Kallis to play in first Test against England?

1 ANSWERS

1. amomipais82
   

   Hi There,
   Speculation about the composition of the South African team for the first Test against England ended Monday when the South African
   
   selectors reduced the squad for the match to 12 after being convinced that Jacques Kallis was fit to play.
   
   All-rounder Kallis, who bats at No. 4 for South Africa, may not be able to bowl in the match which begins on Wednesday at Supersport Park in Pretoria as he is not being fully recovered from a broken rib suffered a couple of months ago.
   
   But the Proteas' highest Test run-scorer was pronounced fit to bat after getting through several practice sessions without discomfort at a national team camp in Potchefstroom at the weekend. Kallis' recuperation had included spending time in an oxygen chamber to hasten the healing process.
   
   Three players -- batsman Alviro Petersen, all-rounder Ryan McLaren and left-arm seamer Wayne Parnell -- were on Monday released to play for their club teams this week. The only reserve player still with the Proteas is uncapped fast bowler Friedel de Wet. He provides cover for fast bowler Dale Steyn, who has been hampered by a hamstring strain for a couple of weeks.
   
   "Both Jacques Kallis and Dale Steyn should be fit to take their places," South Africa coach Mickey Arthur said. "Nevertheless we are keeping Friedel de Wet on standby as a like-for-like replacement for Dale. There is always the chance with bowlers that Dale could wake up on the morning of the match with a recurrence and we don't want to have to scramble around for a last-minute replacement."
   
   This week's match will be a special one for Proteas pace bowler Makhaya Ntini, who will be appearing in his 100th Test. The one-time tender of cattle from the rural Eastern Cape will be the only the fifth South Africa player to reach 100 Tests, and the first black South African to achieve that milestone.
   
   Ntini has taken 388 Test wickets, and holds a slew of South African bowling records. One he does not possess is for taking the most Test wickets. That record belongs to now-retired Shaun Pollock, who claimed 421 wickets in his 108 Tests.
   
   Ntini detractors say that his Test career does not have long to run, but should he start well this week after a nine-month break from Test cricket, he could be retained for South Africa's tours of India and the West Indies next year, and he would then have a good chance of improving on Pollock's tally, which is the eighth best in Test history.
   
   As it stands, the release of the three squad members means that the Proteas will rely on a three-pronged pace attack for the first Test, in the shape of Ntini, Steyn and Morne Morkel. Morkel will be replacing his brother Albie, who played in South Africa's last Test, an innings victory over Australia at Newlands in March.

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