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Chigumbura – who has past personal success in Pakistan to draw from – also says Super-League points are on Zimbabwe’s mind

Danyal Rasool21-Oct-2020For much of the first decade of his career, Elton Chigumbura was among the first names on the Zimbabwe team sheet. Known for his power-hitting at a time when Zimbabwe lacked players with that attribute, and crucial to balancing the side thanks to his ability to bowl medium pace, Chigumbura seemed to be the full package. But, over the past five years, people’s patience with the 34-year-old, no matter how decorated his CV, has seemingly begun to run thin.There was forensic scrutiny in Zimbabwe after Chigumbura kept his place in the side for the upcoming tour to Pakistan. For one, he’s no longer a bowler, just a middle-order batsman. And one who has scored a grand total of one half-century in ODI cricket in the past five years, and managed a T20I score higher than 35 in just one innings since May 2015.Speaking to the media after the Zimbabwe team landed in Pakistan to play three T20Is and three ODIs, and having begun a six-day quarantine period, Chigumbura said injuries had played a part in the drop in his performance, but he was raring to go once more.”I have struggled with my form,” he said. “I had a couple of injuries that put me away for quite some time. So it was down to my injuries I was out for almost a year, not playing international cricket. And when I came back again, I got another injury, for which I had to go and get surgery done. Right now, I’m looking forward to this series, hopefully to get back to where I was. And these wickets in Pakistan are good wickets to bat on. So hopefully I can carry on from last time when I was in Pakistan.”I am fully fit now. I got an Achilles injury last year. When I was about to just start playing again, then the Covid-19 pandemic happened. So I’m happy to be back in the squad. Hopefully we get a chance to enjoy every moment.”Chigumbura has reason to be optimistic about his prospects in Pakistan. When Zimbabwe became the first side to visit the country after the 2009 terror attack on the Sri Lankan team, the-then 29-year-old was the star of the visiting side. He struck a career-best 54 in the first T20I, before going on to smash a 95-ball 117, also a career high, in his only ODI innings as the visiting side posted 334 in their 50 overs. He would carry on that form, making it back-to-back hundreds by hitting an unbeaten 104 against India six weeks later. He was in the form of his life, before it all suddenly slipped away.But when you’re around the Zimbabwe set-up for as long as he has been, you’ll likely have seen enough rough times to understand there is a way to come out of it.Elton Chigumbura winds up for a big hit•AFP

“We have to try and start winning games. Everyone is really focused. It’s not just the series that will determine our future – every game that you play in the [ODI] Super League is very important for the team so that we qualify for the next World Cup overseas. And we take it one game at a time, but everyone in the team is very ready and eager to go.”It’s important that we have to play to win, not to just compete. So all those mindsets are things that we have spoken about in training and everyone is aware of what we need to do as a team and as individuals when it comes to these international games. And hopefully we start on a good note.”I believe we can be competitive. We came here to win. Everyone, they’re willing to go out there and express themselves. Everyone is raring to go, especially after being out of cricket for almost six, seven months.”Chigumbura insisted the absence of their head coach, Lalchand Rajput, would not have an adverse effect on the side. Rajput, a former Indian cricketer, pulled out of the tour of Pakistan after the Indian High Commission in Zimbabwe wrote to Zimbabwe Cricket requesting he be exempted from touring Pakistan. As a result, bowling coach Douglas Hondo took over full coaching duties for the tour, and Chigumbura said the side would be in regular touch with Rajput online.”Nothing’s going to change. The same system, same system coaches that were under him are the ones that are leading the team. So all the values of the team are still the same. We’re having a meeting over a conference call and I’m sure he’ll be part of the strategy. So it’s just a matter of us as players to carry on and make sure that we implement what he always emphasised to us.”Chigumbura said the mood in the camp this time was worlds removed from when they last visited in terms of Zimbabwe’s outlook on security in Pakistan. “Obviously it’s good to be back in Pakistan. The first time we came here five years ago, everyone was a bit scared. But I think the way they hosted us last time, we are confident that we are in safe hands and so far everyone is comfortable. And after having our first training session today, we are looking forward to the matches.”Much has changed in Pakistan and elsewhere in the five years since Zimbabwe arrived on these shores in May 2015. But when he steps out in the middle, Chigumbura will be hoping things go back to the way they were when he last felt ball on bat in Pakistan.

Young batsman stranded two runs shy of maiden century

Paul Edwards04-Jun-2019
This has been a fine week for officials at Liverpool CC. While they could do nothing about the rain that allowed only one session’s play on this second day, they have proved themselves perfectly capable of hosting first-class cricket, a claim some had doubted in the very recent past.However, when this game is over and a review is taking place, someone should suggest the value of a scoreboard people can see in bright light. Many spectators squinted in vain at the small electric effort in the corner of the ground and their irritation was only aggravated by the placement of a completely blank, old-style board directly alongside its wretched counterpart. Perversely, of course, as the rain fell the dratted board displayed for hours the one number which had disappointed Lancashire supporters. Underneath No. 20 shone 98, the career-best score Josh Bohannon had made when last man Richard Gleeson edged Dieter Klein to Harry Swindells just before lunch.Until that reverse Liverpool’s green stage had offered fine cricket to a sparse audience. Indeed, the attendance on Tuesday morning suggested people might have paid too much attention to the regional weather forecast and nothing like enough to a microclimate which often ensures Aigburth remains dry while rain falls in the city centre. The most famous instance of this meteorological quiddity occurred late in Lancashire’s championship season when Simon Kerrigan bowled his side to a tremendous victory over Hampshire while adjoining districts were cursed with storms, tempests and plagues of frogs.Perhaps forgetting that day of glory, Merseyside folk remained by their hearths this morning, and that was a shame because those who stayed at home missed an entertaining session, albeit under lowering skies. The best fun was supplied by Bohannon and Tom Bailey, who had extended their eighth-wicket stand to 131 before Bailey carved Chris Wright to Neil Dexter on the deep point boundary. In the previous over Bailey had reached his fifth first-class fifty with a siege-gun six off Wright which arced over the sightscreen at the River End.However, the changed balance of the contest was shown by Wright’s almost impassive reaction to his dismissal of both Bailey and Graham Onions. By then the crowd’s interest had shifted to Bohannon and the few dozen spectators wondered if he could reach his century.He couldn’t. All he was able to do was watch as Gleeson fenced fatally at Klein. Bohannon immediately turned on his heel and casually tossed his bat into the air, catching it in the manner of juggler with a club. It was the gentlest of gestures, one which revealed more phlegm than fury. Then, mindful of his responsibilities to his team, Bohannon slapped reconciliatory gloves with Gleeson as the pair returned to the pavilion.Yet there is surely consolation available to this fine player, who only celebrated his 22nd birthday in April. Josh Bohannon, you see, county cricket in a way that cannot be coached. In just seven first-class matches he has proved himself well-suited to his chosen trade. And so when he scores his maiden hundred, which he should do quite soon, let us hope he achieves the feat before a few thousand spectators in a match blessed by generous skies and a kind sun.

The North v South challenge has switched from the UAE to Barbados but for the North it brought a familiar story as they lost for the fourth successive time

Dan Norcross19-Mar-20183:03

‘It was a real team effort with the bat’

Four times South have played North and four times they have emerged victorious. The latest victory even came with a record attached – an imposing total of 348 which was a List A record for all matches, domestic and international, played at the Kensington Oval.Middlesex’s opener Nick Gubbins smashed a century in Barbados in this prelude to the county season to maintain South’s 100 percent record in this fixture since it was first played in the UAE last Spring.Their total was built on the sturdy foundations of an enterprising opening stand of 134 off 112 balls between Gubbins and Daniel Bell-Drummond, both of whom are England Lions regulars with international ambitions.When Gubbins was well caught by Saqib Mahmood off D’Oliveira for a 99-ball 116, his last 17 had been scored on one leg as severe cramp hindered him so badly he would take no further part in the game,Things looked ominous for North from the outset. Richard Gleeson opened proceedings with a 10-ball over containing four wides and was whipped out of the attack after his first two overs conceded 16 runs.The introduction of spin in the shape of Brett d’Oliveira in the fifth over failed to stem the flow as Bell-Drummond drove off both front and back foot with the elegance, grace and ease that alerted the touring Australians to his abilities back in 2015.Gubbins began scratchily, telegraphing his advances down the wicket but somehow finding the boundary, including one towering six over midwicket, when it looked more likely he was about to give his wicket away. He was particularly severe on North’s captain Steven Mullaney, whose four overs went for 38 runs.When eventually Bell-Drummond departed in the 19th over for a 53 ball 52, caught behind off a sharply lifting delivery from the pacey and consistently impressive Zak Chappell, this was the cue for Gubbins to cut loose. Partnerships of 52 and 45 with Sam Northeast and Laurie Evans came and went in a mere 88 ballsUpon his dismissal, South, on 231 for 3 with nearly 17 overs remaining, were eying the sunlit uplands of 380-400. That they didn’t get there was down almost entirely to a remarkable spell of fast, reverse swing bowling from Mahmood, Lancashire’s promising young quick bowler.His first five overs had been plundered for 44 runs as he strayed in line whilst repeatedly peppering the middle of an unresponsive wicket. His final three overs brought five wickets, all bowled, for just a further 16 runs and restricted South to a mere, albeit record, 347 all out, t total which overhauled the 328 made at the ground by England against West Indies last March.Nick Gubbins heaped on more agony for North – and for himself•Getty Images

With his first ball back in the attack, Mahmood produced the perfect yorker to dismiss England Under-19 all-rounder Delray Rawlins who was playing just his second List A match following his debut against South Africa last summer. Rawlins’ 53 from 41 balls contained five fours and two towering sixes. On the strength of this match, in which he also produced six tidy overs of left arm spin, he is a man to watch this season.North’s reply began with two early reprieves for both openers, Alex Davies and Joe Clarke, dropped by Rawlins at slip off the impressive Sam Curran who was the pick of the new ball bowlers on display.Having reached 100 for 1 after 15 overs the nominally home side looked well placed but Somerset off-spinner Dom Bess picked up both Clarke for 46 and Keaton Jennings for a duck in the day’s only maiden to induce a squeeze that would turn the match irrevocably in his side’s favour.South’s three-pronged spin attack of Bess, Ravi Patel and Rawlins sucked the life out of the innings in the middle overs and despite a 61-ball partnership of 89 between d’Oliveira and the hugely underrated Steven Mullaney, South were only ever a good over away from slamming the door shut.That it was provided by Sam Curran was only fitting as he emulated Mahmood’s earlier efforts by bowling both d’Oliveira and Chappell with successive balls, the latter with a beauty that turned the Leicestershire all rounder inside out before parting his off and middle stumps like a hillbilly’s teeth.Mullaney followed next ball to Middlesex’s Tom Barber, a wild card pick who has impressed in the winter’s fast bowling camp, to complete the team hat trick. Curran eventually delivered the coup de grace when he had Mahmood caught by Simpson off a skier with North 63 runs short.In spite of the scepticism in some quarters as to the value of this fixture, England coaches Paul Collingwood and Mark Ramprakash, who are in charge of the teams, will have been impressed by a number of players. As well as the outstanding contributions of Gubbins, Mahmood,
Bell-Drummond and Rawlins, Bess, until his last two overs showed exactly why so many Somerset supporters have been singing his praises.The powerfully built Chappell was distinctly rapid on a slow pitch, getting a couple of balls to leap off a length at good pace, and both Clarke and Sam Hain looked class acts at the top of the order. It’s worth remembering that Dawid Malan impressed in this series last Spring and is now an established presence in the senior side.The series continues with two further matches on Wednesday and Friday.

Umpire Paul Reiffel has dismissed the idea of wearing a helmet while officiating in Test matches, despite suffering a concussion after being hit by a fielder’s throw in the fourth Test of the ongoing India-England series

ESPNcricinfo staff17-Dec-2016Umpire Paul Reiffel has dismissed the idea of wearing a helmet while officiating in Test matches, despite suffering a concussion after being hit by a fielder’s throw on the first day of the fourth Test of the ongoing India-England series. Reiffel is currently home in Melbourne, after the ICC deemed him unfit to take the field in the final Test in Chennai.Speaking to , the former Australia fast bowler said wearing a helmet would complicate the umpiring process for him. “It would be too heavy and too hot, five days with a helmet on, it just would be impossible,” he said. “It’s hard to hear [with the helmet on]. I’ve put one on and thought ‘could I umpire in this?’, and I thought I’d really struggle.”Reiffel, who was standing at square leg when he was hit by a throw from India’s Bhuvneshwar Kumar, said the accident occurred because he took his eyes off the ball thinking it was dead. “Always keep your eye on the ball,” he said. “I just didn’t do it. I feel a bit silly not doing that. It’s like playing; if you watch the ball you should come out all right. It was just an accident. I’d back myself to get out of the way if I see it coming.””The batsmen had stopped running, the fieldsmen were taking their time. I must have relaxed and expected him to throw it to the keeper over my head and he decided to throw it halfway to the fieldsman. He got it wrong and hit me on the back of my head. It got me behind the ear and hit me flush, that’s what’s done the damage.”He said he could remember little of what happened thereafter, and, in hindsight, was glad the ICC took the decision to make him stand down for the rest of the Test. “Apart from that, I don’t really remember a lot about it. I suppose it did hurt. I’ve watched the replay and I went down pretty quick. I was rolling around a bit. It certainly shook me up.”The next day you feel as though you should be out there. The England cricket team doctor put me through a few tests and I didn’t pass them that well, so they decided it was best not to do the Test and have a bit of a rest and come back later. The ICC decided it was for the best I had the rest. I’m glad about that because I needed it. I was pretty sick for a few days there.”Reiffel is expected to return for the New Zealand-Bangladesh ODI series, which begins on Boxing Day.

William Bosisto’s maiden first-class century and an unbeaten fifty from wicketkeeper Sam Whiteman helped Western Australia salvage a draw against Victoria as the visitors were only two wickets away from losing the match

ESPNcricinfo staff17-Nov-2015
ScorecardFile photo: Sam Whiteman fought till the end with an unbeaten 51•Getty Images

William Bosisto’s maiden first-class century and an unbeaten fifty from wicketkeeper Sam Whiteman helped Western Australia salvage a draw against Victoria as the visitors were only two wickets away from losing the match. Set a target of 390, WA ended the day on 282 for 8 in 106 overs as James Pattinson and Fawad Ahmed took three wickets each at the MCG.WA started the day on 25 for 1 and lost nightwatchman David Moody early in the day before Shaun Marsh joined Bosisto for a stand of 65 runs. But legspinner Fawad had Marsh caught for 33, and Victoria set an unusual field with two slips wearing helmets, before twin strikes from James Pattinson left WA on 173 for 5 just before tea. Bosisto withstood Victoria’s charge at the other end and his crucial stand of 76 runs with Whiteman ensured WA approached 250 as they survived 29.1 overs together.When Bosisto fell for 108 off 288 balls, WA were 249 for 6 with at least ten overs left in the day. Victoria closed in further when Glenn Maxwell had Ashton Agar stumped for 10 and Fawad took a return catch from Hilton Cartwright to leave them on 282 for 8. Whiteman’s presence till the end for his 51 not out from 121 balls avoided WA’s second loss in three matches. Fawad finished with eight wickets in the match.

Michael Klinger’s century ensured Gloucestershire had no trouble in chasing 188 to beat Leicestershire by nine wickets at Grace Road, their first win of the season

03-May-2013Gloucestershire 280 (Taylor 61, Freckingham 4-69) and 191 for 1 (Klinger 103*, Dent 71) beat Leicestershire 250 (Thakor 75, Howell 5-57) and 217 (W Gidman 4-39) by nine wickets
ScorecardMichael Klinger, seen here for Worcestershire last season, steered Gloucestershire home•Getty Images

Australian Michael Klinger hit his first County Championship century to lead Gloucestershire to a nine-wicket victory on the final day at Grace Road.After surviving a tricky first half-hour, openers Klinger and Chris Dent shared a stand of 129 to ensure there would be no major problems chasing a target of 188.Dent was out for 71 to the last ball before lunch but Klinger hit the winning runs and reached his century at the same time with his 16th boundary. He was unbeaten on 103 from 172 balls.It was Gloucestershire’s first win of the season and earned them 21 points, while Leicestershire collected five as they slipped to their first defeat of the season following drawn games against Hampshire and Kent.With Gloucestershire starting the day on 16 for 0, Leicestershire needed to take early wickets if they were to have any chance of snatching an unlikely victory. Pacemen Ollie Freckingham and Robbie Williams bowled well without any luck early on a slow pitch starting to show signs of uneven bounce.Both batsmen played and missed on several occasions and three times the ball flashed through the slip cordon down to the vacant third-man boundary. But as the shine went off the ball, the sting went out of the bowling, and both Klinger and Dent began to play with far more confidence and assurance.Dent was the first to reach his 50 off 68 balls with eight fours and Gloucestershire captain, Klinger, brought up the 100 partnership with a well-timed square drive to the boundary off Freckingham.A neat late cut off Michael Thornely saw Klinger reach his 50 off 100 balls, and Leicestershire’s frustrating morning was summed up when Josh Cobb put down an easy slip catch offered by Dent off Jigar Naik’s off spin.Naik gained some revenge by having Dent lbw with the last ball before lunch. But Klinger remained in good touch, straight driving Claude Henderson for a six before square cutting another boundary off Shiv Thakor to reach his landmark century and clinch victory.

Kent made a faltering reply to Northamptonshire’s first-innings on the second day of their Championship Division Two clash against Northamptonshire at Canterbury.

17-May-2012
ScorecardKent made a faltering reply to Northamptonshire’s first-innings on the second day of their Championship Division Two clash against Northamptonshire at Canterbury.The hosts went in at stumps on 123 for 3 after Northamptonshire had extended their overnight score of 244 for 4 to 418 all out. Having taken just over nine hours to dismiss the visitors on what appeared a placid pitch, Kent’s top order all experienced some difficulty contending with fading light and variable bounce.On-loan opener Scott Newman went for 16 just after tea, inside edging Lee Daggett’s delivery on to his off stump. But it was the bowling of Northamptonshire captain and one-time Kent overseas player Andrew Hall that did most to derail the reply mid-way through the final session.The South African allrounder ended a decent second-wicket stand of 63 by enticing left-hander Ben Harmison to drive wide outside off stump, picking out David Willey at backward point.Then, in his next over from the Nackington Road End, Hall got one to hold its line against the slope and brush the edge of Rob Key’s bat to give a regulation catch to another former Kent man, wicketkeeper Niall O’Brien.Key batted a shade over two hours for his 48 but, with the floodlights on, fourth-wicket partners Michael Powell and Brendan Nash saw out the final half-hour to go into day three trailing by 295 runs.The day had started with David Sales and James Middlebrook hogging centre stage with their side’s record fifth-wicket stand against Kent – 205 in 66.1 overs – beating the county’s previous best against Kent, the 187 set by Rob Bailey and Richard Williams at Wantage Road 22 years ago.Sales contributed an excellent 140 to the cause having batted 319 minutes for his part in the stand. His innings ended when, having just driven James Tredwell for two successive boundaries, he attempted an impudent lap-sweep against the England offspinner only to top-edge to the keeper. Middlebrook was leg before soon after, off balance and playing across the line to a full ball from Matt Coles, the former Essex man gone for 73.That brought together Con de Lange and Willey for another century stand, this time for the seventh wicket. On a docile pitch – and against an old ball – scoring became such an easy past-time that Kent skipper Key introduced his own brand of slow bowling in an effort to encourage an early declaration. His one over cost 11 runs, but failed to have the desired effect as the visitors batted on.Willey was finally caught in the deep for a career-best 64 in 85 balls, Daggett clipped one to short mid-on and last man Jack Brooks dragged on against Darren Stevens to complete the Northamptonshire innings.

A round-up of matches on the fifth day of the ICC World Cricket League Division Seven competition in Gaborone, Bostwana

ESPNcricinfo staff07-May-2011Nigeria have ensured they finish top of the points table – as a result qualifying for World Cricket League Division 6 – by beating Botswana by eight wickets in a rain-affected game in Gaborone.Going into the match tied on points with Botswana, Nigeria chose to field. The decision paid off, as none of the host’s batsmen were able to build on the starts they got, folding for 123 in 37.2 overs. Legspinner Sean Philips was the pick of the bowlers, stifling the batsmen to finish with 3 for 10 in 6.2 overs. Nigeria’s openers, Ademola Onikoyi and Segun Olayinka, got the chase off to rapid start, putting on 71 in 10.2 overs. But then play was interrupted by rain, and subsequently the target reduced to 120 off 47 overs. After the resumption, Nigeria knocked off the 49 more required for a win without much drama, with Olayinka batting through.Endurance Ofem, the Nigeria captain, said the ease of the victory was unexpected. “I expected more from them [Botswana] today, considering they chased down 272 [against Norway on Thursday]. But I told my guys that if we do well in the morning then the afternoon would be ours for the taking,” he said. “Our bowlers worked hard today and it really paid off for us.”Nigeria will take on Kuwait in the final on Sunday, while Botswana will play Germany for third place.Norway needed a massive win against Germany to avoid relegation to WCL Division 8, but could not pull it off, succumbing by 18 runs via the Duckworth-Lewis method in a rain-curtailed match.Choosing to bowl, Norway’s bowlers did well to restrict Germany to 184. While medium pacer Babar Shahzad knocked over a couple early, opening bowler Waseem Gill bowled an impressive second spell, carving up the middle and lower order with three scalps. S Satyanarayana was the only batsman to make a sizeable contribution, adding respectability to the total with 52 off 47 balls. In the mid-innings break the rain came down and the revised target for Norway was 141 in 29 overs. The right-left combination Rajeev Vohra and Ehsan Latif were hard to manoeuvre early on in the chase, picking up two apiece to leave Norway 40 for 4 in the ninth over. Norway didn’t recover and fell 18 runs short, all out for 122 in 25.4 overs. Latif claimed two more wickets, finishing with 4 for 26 in 5.4 overs.German captain Asif Khan said his team were happy to keep their place in Division 7. “On the whole, we’re delighted that we’re a part of Division 7,” he said. “Our batting didn’t click so well today, but Satya [Satyanarayana] proved his worth under pressure. I think to have got them out for under 140 on this wicket is a real achievement.”Germany will play Botswana for third place on Sunday, while Norway will take on Japan in the fifth-place play-off.The match between Japan and Kuwait was abandoned without a ball being bowled. The sides split points, taking one apiece.Japan have finished at the bottom of the table, meaning they have been relegated to WCL Division 8, irrespective of the result of the fifth-place play-off in which they play Norway on Sunday. Kuwait, who are No. 2 on the points table, have made WCL Division 6, and will take on Nigeria for the Division 7 title.

Chamari Polgampola, the right-arm fast bowler, will replace Shashikala Siriwardene in the Sri Lankan women’s squad for the ICC World Twenty20

Cricinfo staff02-May-2010Chamari Polgampola, the right-arm fast bowler, will replace Shashikala Siriwardene in the Sri Lankan women’s squad for the ICC World Twenty20, the ICC has confirmed. Siriwardene, the off spinner, had to pull out of the tournament due to an illness and the ICC’s event technical committee approved of her replacement on Sunday.Polgampola last played for Sri Lanka during the World Twenty20 in England in 2009. Siriwardene did not bat during Sri Lanka’s warm-up game against South Africa at St Kitts on Sunday. Sri Lanka kick-off their campaign against Pakistan at Warner Park on Thursday.

Justin Ontong, the Cape Cobras allrounder, has been included in South Africa’s squads for the one-day and Twenty20 international series in New Zealand in February. Graeme Smith has been left out of the Twenty20 side, and another Cobras batsman Richard Levi will open with Hashim Amla in the format. JP Duminy was chosen ahead of Ashwell Prince in the Test squad, which also includes Robin Peterson in place of Paul Harris.Marchant de Lange, who took seven wickets in an innings on Test debut against Sri Lanka, was selected for his first tour and was named in the Test and T20 squads. Jacques Kallis and Dale Steyn were rested for the Twenty20 series.Ontong hasn’t been part of a South Africa squad since the 2009 World Twenty20 in England, where he did not play a game. The last time he played for the country was in March 2009, a T20 match against Australia. However, Ontong averaged 72 in this season’s 1-Day Cup, South Africa’s List A competition, and 76 in the SuperSport Series, the first-class tournament. He played some crucial knocks in the 1-Day Cup, with his three half-centuries all coming at close to a run a ball, and he helped take the Cobras over the line in the final with an unbeaten 37 off 28 balls.”Ontong fully deserves this latest call-up,” Andrew Hudson, Cricket South Africa’s selection convener, said. “He has shown outstanding domestic form this season and I believe he has developed into a more mature cricketer. His finishing ability was a key factor in the Cobras’ success in winning the 1-Day Cup.”He is the complete limited-overs package, being a fine batsman who will strengthen our fielding disciplines and also give us another bowling option.”We have decided to try out some exciting new options in the T20 squad such as Levi, Ontong and de Lange. There are only 11 matches left in this format before we travel to Sri Lanka for the ICC World Twenty20 and this is really the last chance to explore the talent we have at our disposal. Having AB de Villiers fit again for T20 action also gives us a lot more flexibility and better balance.”South Africa will play three Twenty20s in New Zealand, five against Zimbabwe at home and three more in England before the World Twenty20. An ICC trophy is the one thing noticeable by its absence in the South African cabinet and one of coach Gary Kirsten’s foremost priorities is to change that.Smith’s exclusion from the squad suggests he is not in the plans for the World Twenty20. Instead, it looks like Levi, who made an impression at last year’s Champions League T20 and was the third highest run-scorer in the 2010-11 Pro20 competition, will be groomed. Rusty Theron, who is renowned for his death bowling, has also been given another chance.Albie Morkel keeps his place in the limited-overs squad. He was not included in the original squad for the ODIs against Sri Lanka, but was called up as a replacement for Dean Elgar ahead of the first ODI. He was only required to score quick runs down the order and did not take any wickets in the series.Rory Kleinveldt and Elgar, who were both selected for the ODI series against Sri Lanka, were not considered because of injury. Kleinveldt did not play in the series and sustained a quadricep injury after the first match in Paarl. Elgar hurt his knee in the field in a SuperSport Series match and was forced to withdraw from the squad before the series started.Twenty20 squad: AB de Villiers (capt), Hashim Amla (vc), Johan Botha, Marchant de Lange, JP Duminy, Colin Ingram, Richard Levi, Albie Morkel, Morne Morkel, Justin Ontong, Wayne Parnell, Robin Peterson, Rusty Theron, Lonwabo Tsotsobe.