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For some months now this has really been annoying me. People often seem to think that South Africa doesn’t have many, or any, good spin bowlers.
This is totally untrue.
They do have a number of good spin bowlers coming through the ranks at domestic level, the problem is they don’t seem able to get a single go in the international side.
Two players I will mention have been bowling well domestically for most of the season.
Yet the one player who South Africa time and time again select for their South Africa A team has more bad matches than these two players put together.
My case starts out with a leg spinner, who has been playing impressively since he was 25. He’s now 27. When I see his team is playing I get score updates to see how he is going. It’s not the same as seeing everything out in the field, but the stats don’t really lie.
His name is Shaun von Berg. He’s an all-rounder who has great numbers. He has a first class best of 7/66 at an average of 26.96 and a strike rate of 47.4. With the willow his highest score in first class cricket in 105*, with an average of 30.06, including 3 hundreds and 12 fifties.
Next on the list is another unknown player. He is an off spinner who is a late-order batsman, but is getting better with the willow and could become an all-rounder. His bowling is getting better and better and he is still only 24.
Dane Piedt is his name. His first class best is 7/92, with an average of 24.28 and a strike rate of 46.5. His highest first class score with the bat is 92, with an average of 15.38 and four 50s.
Yet Simon Harmer, 25, gets selected for South Africa A more than any of these two and gets taken more seriously for some unknown reason.
I have nothing against Harmer, his stats aren’t bad, but his bowling performances tend to drop off more often than not.
His highest first class score with the bat is 100*, with an average of 29.39, including 1 hundred and 11 fifties. His first class best with the ball is 8/72, at an average of 32.75 and strike rate of 61.1.
While von Berg and Harmer have similar stats, the player who has done more based on merit isn’t getting through the system.
If you want to be a great cricketing country you need to reward players for playing well. South Africa have uncharacteristically failed to that in this instance.
Players need a chance to prove to themselves and von Berg and Piedt deserve time in the national Test side.
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