Cricket South Africa on Friday named Quinton de Kock as Test captain for the 2020/2021 season. The board also announced the squad for the upcoming two-match Test series against Sri Lanka.
The fixtures will be part of the ICC World Test Championship (WTC). De Kock's appointment for the season is motivated by the light Test cricket load on this season, with the Proteas only playing three series against Sri Lanka, Pakistan and Australia respectively.
The national selection panel led by convenor of selectors, Victor Mpitsang, is confident of De Kock's leadership capabilities and the leadership he has shown so far and will spend the next few months finalising the appointment of the player who will take on the permanent role.
"We are satisfied, as the national selection panel, with the decision that we have made to ensure continuity within the team, while we work towards making the best decision for its future without the pressure of time constraints. Quinton (de Kock) is happy to continue in the role for the next season and is comfortable with the balance of the workload and we back him fully as a captain," Mpitsang said in a statement.
"We are also pleased with the leadership group in the team and are cultivating a strong individual leadership culture at the same time, so that the team produces a sustainable stream of potential captains for the future," he added.
Sarel Erwee, Glenton Stuurman and Kyle Verreynne have received maiden Proteas Test call-ups for the tour while former South Africa U-19 captain Wiaan Mulder makes a return to the national team after a period of prolonged injury kept him out of action.
The 31-year-old Erwee has enjoyed a long period of consistently good performances which have culminated into his call-up for this tour, not least of which was his 199 in the Hollywoodbets Dolphins' CSA 4-Day Domestic Series season-opener against the Imperial Lions last month. He averages 60.28 with 469 runs in eight innings so far in the competition.
Stuurman will make an exciting addition to the Proteas' bowling attack. The 28-year-old, right-arm medium-pacer from Oudtshoorn boasts an impressive 4-Day Series record of 181 wickets from 46 matches at a bowling average of 21.28 for the Warriors. His best bowling figures of 7/12 are capped off by a high score of 81 from his overall 671 runs, making him a player to look out for in this format.
The last season has been an impressive one for 23-year-old Verreynne in the 4-Day Domestic Series. He amassed 551 runs in 11 innings, at an average of 55,10, including two centuries and three half-centuries for the Six Gun Grill Cape Cobras. Before joining the national team for the limited-overs tour against England, he had deposited 247 runs in two matches, at an average of 61.75 to his competition account.
Kagiso Rabada and Dwaine Pretorius are not yet fit enough for the physical exertions of Test cricket as a result of injuries picked up during the England tour. They along with other players will go through assessments in the next few days.
Lungi Ngidi will lead the pace attack with Anrich Nortje and Beuran Hendricks, who both impressed last summer against England. Ngidi missed out on Test cricket last season because of injury.Proteas Test squad for Sri Lanka series: Quinton de Kock (captain), Temba Bavuma, Aiden Markram, Faf du Plessis, Beuran Hendricks, Dean Elgar, Keshav Maharaj, Lungi Ngidi, Rassie van der Dussen, Sarel Erwee, Anrich Nortje, Glenton Stuurman, Wiaan Mulder, Keegan Petersen, Kyle Verreynne.
( With inputs from ANI )
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