SA motivator Horn hints at politics in team selection

Mike Horn has become the first insider from the South African camp to corroborate the reports of interference in team selection for the 2015 World Cup semi-final. Horn, who was with the squad as a consultant during the tournament, told journalists at the Laureus Sports Awards in Shanghai that politics "had a role to play" in the selection of the team that took the field against New Zealand.

Cricket South Africa have not commented, nor have members of the team and coaching staff, but South Africa's sports minister Fikile Mbalula called Horn "mischievous" in a radio interview.

Horn, who has worked with South Africa before and whom many players consider a friend, made the allegations after weeks of speculation in the South African media that Vernon Philander was included in the semi-final XI at the behest of the board and against the wishes of the captain and coach, who both wanted an unchanged side from the one that won the quarter-final. "We're not going into any politics, but it had a role to play," Horn said. "I had to give a talk to the guys after the team was selected. A little bit of energy was taken away from the quarter-finals, where the right team played."

The only change South Africa made to their side for the semi-final was including Philander in place of Kyle Abbott. Philander would have played the quarter-final as well but was struggling with a hamstring injury that also affected his participation in the group stage of the tournament.

Every time Philander missed a game - against Ireland, West Indies and Pakistan - the team management made it clear he would be brought back into the XI as soon as he was fit and cited his ability to exploit conditions and move the ball off the seam as the reason. However, numerous sources close to the team and selectors suggested to ESPNcricinfo that Philander was also required to fulfill what they have termed an "unofficial quota", which requires including at least four players of colour in the South African side.

This is not strictly adhered to - there were four occasions at the World Cup in which South Africa fielded only three players of colour - but is expected to apply more often than not. The selectors were aware of the requirement. After the selectors, together with the coach and captain, select an XI, the team must be vetted by CSA's CEO, president and the transformation committee, although it is not always possible for all three to cast their eye over the final list.

Teams are usually selected the evening before a game and an insider told ESPNcricinfo that was the case ahead of the semi-final as well. "The team was selected the night before the game and Philander's name was on it. The instruction was given before that," the source said.

CSA's CEO Haroon Lorgat has denied issuing any such instruction, calling claims that he did "utter nonsense." In a press release, Lorgat said "there was no SMS, WhatsApp or BBM sent by me to the coach."

Mbalula, who has impressed on various sports bodies the need to transform, has also denied issuing orders but did not rule out that someone could have had a say in selection. "What Mike Horn is doing is being mischievous. I don't know how such people find their ways into leadership. Horn must substantiate that there was indeed political interference and calls were made," Mbalula said. "In any squad, any game, changes are made by selectors. The question is, was that change politically aggravated? There was no such thing from my side. I don't select squads. Ask AB de Villiers, ask Russell Domingo if they ever received a call from me."

Both de Villiers and Domingo defended the decision to play Philander in the aftermath of South Africa's exit from the tournament. But insiders say both were upset by the decision to play him at the time, with some reports suggesting de Villiers threatened to quit the captaincy. Horn hinted that there was unhappiness in the camp before they stepped on to Eden Park and accepted the blame for failing to motivate the players enough to influence the result positively.

"My job was to say, 'Listen guys, now we have got to give just a little bit more than what we gave before. We have got to fill gaps. We have to make a difference with less, but give more'," Horn said. "It is what it is, I take it as it is. It doesn't matter how politics or the quota influenced the players. I think I failed a bit in my job as motivator or as high-performance coach in the way that I believed the Proteas could win the World Cup."