Duminy 'unlikely' to play WI Tests - Domingo

JP Duminy is "highly unlikely" to recover from a knee injury in time to take any part in South Africa's three-Test series against West Indies, which will effectively allow Alviro Petersen to keep his place at the top of the order for now. That was the news South Africa coach Russell Domingo delivered as the Test squad gathered to begin preparations ahead of the only incoming international tour of the season.

The setback in Duminy's rehabilitation will open up a spot at No.7 in the batting line-up, which will likely be filled by Stiaan van Zyl, the Cobras' No.3. Van Zyl was told during South Africa's winter tours of Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe that he was in line to take up a position in the top two. With van Zyl now in line for a reasonable run lower down in the order, it is unlikely Petersen will face pressure from him just yet.

Although Domingo described Duminy's treatment as "going fine at the moment", he explained that it was "probably going to take a little longer than anticipated" and with the World Cup two months away, it was important to manage Duminy carefully.

"It's a tough one because Test cricket is the ultimate and if guys are available, they want to be playing," Domingo said. "But we also have got to realise that the World Cup is a big tournament and JP is a big player for us in that format as he is in every format. We need to assess where he is in the next week or two."

Van Zyl will only be confirmed Duminy's replacement once Domingo meets with the national selectors but the South African coach called him a "frontrunner" to play in the series. "He has got a good technique. He plays the short ball really well and he is a guy who knows how to get runs," Domingo said. "A lot of the runs he has got have been big hundreds. Players who make those type of big performances, it's difficult to teach, they just know how to do that. He is one of those guys who knows how to do that."

Van Zyl was the top run-scorer in last season's first-class competition and scored three centuries. In two of those, he went beyond 150, scoring 164 and 167 respectively. This summer, the Cobras have not played any first-class cricket yet but van Zyl turned out for his provincial side, Western Province, in the first week of December and scored 62 and 104 to underline his ability of spending time at the crease.

That ability has also put pressure on Petersen, who hasn't managed much of the same. Petersen has not scored a Test century in 23 innings and Domingo said the opener knows he is under scrutiny. "He will be the first to admit that he has got a lot of starts. In his last 20 innings, he has got nine scores over 20. He has got himself in and then managed to find ways to get himself out. He knows as a top-order batter he needs to get big runs. He will be the first to admit that he has maybe thrown away one or two starts and hasn't quite cashed in but he is a quality player."

Domingo is not ready to give up on Petersen just yet and expects that he could come good over the next three matches. "I believe there is a big score around the corner for him. Technically he seems to be playing really nicely," he said. "And he seems to thrive when he has got a point to prove, when people are trying to write him off. I don't think he needs too much motivation. I know there a lot of questions about his selection but to me, he has been a good performer for South Africa over a period of time. All players go through slumps."

There is also the difficult in replacing Petersen if van Zyl is otherwise occupied. Of the current crop, Rilee Rossouw is one of only a few candidates but Domingo said South Africa are not in a rush to blood new players.

"You don't want to be giving Test caps away. Guys have got to earn the right to play Test cricket because it is the pinnacle of our sport," he said. "You don't want to be making wholesale changes to your Test side. You want to be getting in one or two new faces every series, now and then but not as a recurring thing. If you do make changes, it's got to be one or two here and there, where you can give a player an opportunity to find his feet in the format because it's not easy to just come in and make an impact in international cricket. You've got to be willing to give that player an extended run. It's not that easy to just slot in new players at every opportunity. You have to find the right time and right place."

A series against West Indies, especially ahead of next year's high-profile contests with India and England, would appear to be an ideal opportunity to expose new talent but, in a lean Test year for South Africa, Domingo said it is not. South Africa have only played six Tests in 2014 and will play only three this summer. The first nine months of 2015 are also bare, with only a tour to Bangladesh in the program.

The lack of Test matches for the world's No.1 team means that every time they play, they want to show their dominance and that has left Domingo anxious, even as they take on the No.8 ranked West Indies.

"We know West Indies will be desperate to do well in Test cricket," he said. "We shouldn't look too far back because the last tour here they won the first Test. I am actually a bit nervous starting this Test series because we haven't played a lot of Test cricket over the last couple of months and we are still trying to find the right combinations and the right personnel after the loss of guys like Graeme Smith and Jacques Kallis. We are a little bit nervous about the West Indies side because we probably don't know it much."

Winning ICC silverware has been South Africa's focus for the last six months and will be for the next four but Domingo is grateful for a small break from ODIs: "It gives us a little bit of time away from the white ball to re-energise that side of our game."