Injury snag hits Gautent/Northerns XI selection

Centurion: While Rushdie Majiet's national selection panel stepped in to run the show over the heads of those in charge of players affairs in the two provinces, injury problems have already delivered a bouncer at the announcement of the combined Northerns/Gauteng XI to play the touring English visitors later this week.

David Townsend, one of five Northerns members of the squad released to the British media on Sunday but kept away from South Africa press, is doubtful for the four-day game starting on Thursday at SuperSport Park. It appears that Majiet and Co moved after two Test caps, Daryll Cullinan and Adam Bacher, failed in Harare during South Africa's impressive victory by an innings against Zimbabwe on Sunday. The pair contributed only eight runs in an innings tot of 462 for nine, declared with Cullinan falling to a first ball duck.

From all accounts Peter Kirsten (Northerns) and Mark O'Donnell (Gauteng) were told sometime on Saturday that the national selectors wanted to "put the strongest side available into the field against the tourists as Majiet and Co wanted to have a look at them.''

Whether this is some form of compensation for missing out on selection for the South African A side to play Sri Lanka A in Pietermaritzburg over the same period is uncertain. What is now clear is that it seems to be the reason why the national selectors ignored the SA A team game against the Sri Lankans on the first two days.

They have placed a higher price on this match, allowing the England XI batsmen a look at David Terbrugge, than they have on the South Africa A team led by Dale Benkenstein.

To be led by Clive Eksteen, the Gauteng captain this season, the combined XI's pace and seam attack was to have been made up of Terbrugge, likely to share the new-ball with either Steve Elworthy or Greg Smith, and Townsend as the fourth seamer.

It would have been the first real test of the tourists batting, on a traditionally bouncy Centurion pitch; even now the appearance of two Test bowlers in Elworthy and Terbrugge as well as Smith, who has played for the South African A side, is about as strong a bowling attack Nasser Hussain's visitors will have faced before the first Test at the Wanderers next week.

What is interesting is who among the national selectors is to hold a watching brief on the game in Centurion as the selectors are, it seems to be meeting, most likely in Durban on Saturday and Sunday where Natal play Free State at Kingsmead in a Pool B A Section match.

Perhaps they have already made up their mind as they continue to ignore the efforts of the South African A team whose victory of 116 runs over Sri Lanka A was singularly impressive with Mornantau Hayward, Victor Mpitsang and Terbrugge the bowlers responsible for their demolition of the visiting batsmen who were out of their depth on a pitch where the pace and bounce was disconcerting.

The team: Sven Koenig, Adam Bacher, Neil McKenzie, Daryll Cullinan, Martin van Jaarsveld, Nic Pothas, Steve Elworthy, Clive Eksteen (capt), David Townsend, David Terbrugge, Greg Smith.