Christopher Morris has all the attributes of a very good all-round cricketer. Releasing the ball from his 6ft 5” frame he is able to extract a considerable amount of pace and bounce, as well as the ability to take the ball away from the right hander at speeds in excess of 145 clicks. He’s no lump with the bat either, averaging 33 runs per innings at a 1st class level. He might not be the most ‘pretty’ batsman around, but he relies on his good eye and powerful clean hitting which has seen him dig the Highveld Lions and Multiply Titans from a spot of bother on many occasions.
Then why will he not have a seat on the plane to London? Well in my opinion I think it comes down to Chris Morris being labelled or categorized as an all-rounder by Proteas coach Ottis Gibson as opposed to the spearhead or apex of a bowling line-up that was occupied by Dale Steyn for so long while the changing of the guard seemed to have gone in the direction of Kagiso Rabada and Lungi Ngidi who have done a fine job thus far.
With Tahir spinning webs from the other end, and the experienced Dale Steyn lending his experience at the latter end of the innings, there is no spot for another outright bowler, and rightly so. With Steyn, Rabada, Ngidi and Tahir likely to bowl 40 of the required 50 overs, where will the remaining 10 come from? Well from a suitable all-rounder of course! In the mix here the following names come to mind, Andile Phehlukwayo, Dwaine Pretorius, Wiaan Mulder and Chris Morris.
Let’s compare them as bowlers first. In terms of their averages, Andile leads the pack at 28 runs per wicket, with Pretorius right on his feet at 29. Morris and Mulder disappoint in this regard, averaging 40 and 38 respectively. In the limited overs format due regard needs to be given to the rate at which these bowlers are going for their runs. Pretorius leads the pack this time going at 4.8 runs to the over, while Andile and Morris share the spoils for 2nd at 5.6 to the over. Mulder on the other hand tends to be slightly more expensive at 5.8 to the over. So, based on the above I think its fair to say that Andile and Pretorius are more impressive with the ball. Comparing them as batsmen, Phehlukwayo averages 32 runs per innings, while Pretorius, Morris, and Mulder come in with a well below par 18, 19, and 14 in One Day International matches.
It seems like Ottis Gibson favors the 6 (batsmen), 1(all-rounder) and 4 (bowlers) split which essentially means that between Andile, Pretorius, Morris and Mulder, we have 1 available spot, and rightly so that spot has been awarded to Andile Phehlukwayo. Now with 4 guys not making the 11 but still going to the world cup, Ottis Gibson has opted to take 1 batsman, 1 all-rounder and 2 bowlers and in my opinion that final all-rounder position was always going to be between Pretorius and Morris, particularly given the quality, or lack there of, of Wiaan Mulders performances in the recent ODI series against Pakistan and Sri Lanka. On paper Pretorius is the logical in my opinion, and Ottis Gibson agrees having opted for him over Chris Morris perhaps due to black and white statistics or perhaps due to a subjective X factor that Gibson has identified in him as a cricketer.
Having said that, I don't believe Pretorius will get a lot of game time given the lack of dead rubber fixtures at a cricket World Cup, but I believe if Phehlukwayo is no longer able to fulfil that number 7 role, for whatever reason, Pretorius will be more than capable of filling his boots.
Kommentare