LEFT ARM OVER
NEIL MANTHORP: Fringe players jostle for seats on packed World Cup bus
A fascinating array of jigs and jinks will be displayed by many of SA’s best one-day cricketers over the next 18 months as they jostle to be noticed, stay relevant and remain in contention for a place in the 2019 World Cup squad. It has been said many times in this column that South African cricket’s existence on a four-year cycle between World Cups is not only unhealthy but counterproductive to efforts to win the damn thing but, like most bad habits and obsessions, it won’t change. The jostling for attention began last week as the embarrassing rabble posing as the Bangladesh ODI team were scraped off the Proteas’ shoes. If places in the starting XI aren’t perceived to be up for grabs then those on the fringes need to concentrate on displaying their willingness to change and ability to adapt. If they can’t make the team because they are perceived to be competing against Hashim Amla or AB de Villiers, then they need to be able to challenge for other places and fit into a different ho...
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