Miller 'within the mix' in South Africa's ODI plans despite missing England series

David Miller remains in contention for the 2027 World Cup despite his absence from South Africa's squad for their ODI series in England, according to captain Temba Bavuma.

Miller, 36, has not played international cricket since the Champions Trophy in March and signed a hybrid contract with Cricket South Africa earlier this year. He missed South Africa's white-ball tour to Australia in August while playing for Northern Superchargers in the Hundred and will not feature in this week's ODI series, but will return for the three T20Is that start on September 10.

Bavuma said that Miller's involvement in the Hundred - which ended on Saturday night in the Eliminator - effectively precluded him from selection for the ODI series, since he had missed South Africa's build-up since arriving in Leeds last week. By contrast, five of England's players only travelled to Headingley on Monday afternoon after playing in Sunday night's final.

"What I understand is that those communications were done during his contract times, in terms of him being available during this period for the Hundred," Bavuma said. "Essentially, he wasn't available for selection - but I stand by correction around that… David's still within the mix in the ODI stuff, if that answers your question.

"The Australia tour would've coincided with the Hundred. I guess any international commitments that occurred during the Hundred, David wasn't available for. Unfortunately, the one-day [series], it clashes: he wasn't part of our build-up. But then with the T20 stuff, the Hundred is done, he'll fall back into the team."

While Miller will be 38 by the time of the 2027 World Cup, he has an exceptional ODI record as a middle-order batter, averaging 42.30 and striking at 103.68 after more than 150 innings in the format. He impressed during the Hundred too, scoring 133 runs in five innings and hitting 14 of the 71 balls that he faced for six - including four in 10 balls in Saturday's Eliminator.

South Africa's squad is otherwise at full strength for the ODI series, although Matthew Breetzke and Kagiso Rabada miss out for Tuesday's series-opener with niggles. They have also lost Heinrich Klaasen from the group that reached the Champions Trophy semi-finals, following his retirement from international cricket earlier this year.

Bavuma said that the wider context for this week's ODI series is for South Africa to continue their development as a 50-over side ahead of the 2027 World Cup - which they will co-host with Zimbabwe and Namibia: "That's the bigger picture… But we'd like to bring ourselves back to here and what we need to do to be successful in England."