McKenzie recalled in SA squad shake up

Cape Town - Having sent Neil McKenzie home on Monday as part of the exercise to get rid of excess baggage for the Newlands game against England, South Africa's selectors did the honest thing yesterday by recalling him for the rest of the triangular limited overs series.

It was a decision which creased the 24-year-old Northerns captain's features with a grin as he came up with that famous chestnut of "It is an honour to represent my country" when asked for a comment.

That he should have been in the squad all along possibly escaped the attention of most of Rushdie Magiet's national panel, who realising they needed someone to fill the gap left by Daryll Cullinan's No4 spot only a week ago pulled him in as cover for Jonty Rhodes and Dale Benkenstein.

Now he has been drafted into a reshaped squad which contains no Allan Donald but they have finally decided to recall Steve Elworthy as a replacement for the injured David Terbrugge, while Gary Kirsten's decision "to take a break" allows them to bring in Louis Koen.

Apart from the possible absence of Donald no one can really quibble about the changes in the squad although there are those who would question the selection of the Boland captain, Koen. Yet a glance at his form in the SuperSport Series, where he has scored 513 runs at an average of above 40.

Elworthy has also being pulling his weight as a bowler and his non-selection last week came as a surprise. After all 32 A Section wickets at 19.43 is worth checking out and little has changed from a week ago when the first squad was announced. On that occasion Magiet escaped without a hint of a question.

Yesterday a lot of more was said about Kirsten needing to "take a break", as he needed "to mentally rearrange my game". Is says much for the Kirsten honesty that he has acknowledged he is not in tune with his talent and playing ability.

Terbrugge's stress fracture was the reason he did not fire the way he can and 12 months after he had an operation to his right heel he is again laid up and, from all accounts, out of the India tour. Just the sort of bad luck which affected Fanie de Villiers in his career.

Elworthy, with his "officer and a gentleman" image, will welcome the chance to bowl again for South Africa. Why he was over looked for the Millennium Series against England was also a mystery.

McKenzie though, is keen to step into the side and face the "challenge of playing for South Africa" in the remaining three matches. While he would prefer to bat at three, where he has scored his runs for Northerns, batting at four is also "as good a choice as any" in the side.

"I found batting at three and being captain giving me the sort of responsibility I enjoy," he said yesterday. "I also found that our coach, Peter Kirsten, allowed me to go out and play my own game.

"His own experience and insight into batting at three also helped me a lot," McKenzie admitted. "Right now though, I am not looking too far ahead. Playing in the remainder of the series is a bonus and I'm going to do what I can to return the confidence the selectors have place in me."

He felt that the challenge of facing up to world-class bowlers such as Darren Gough and Andrew Caddick would make for an interesting challenge as he had learnt much from facing them in the four innings where he scored three big half centuries.

"What I have to do is be more patient when I am batting against them. For me that is the key to scoring runs," he added.

The squad is: Hansie Cronje (capt), Nicky Boje, Mark Boucher, Steve Elworthy, Herschelle Gibbs, Mornantau Hayward, Jacques Kallis, Lance Klusener, Louis Koen, Neil McKenzie, Shaun Pollock, Jonty Rhodes, Pieter Strydom, Henry Williams. Dewald Pretorius (Free State) and Garnet Kruger (Eastern Province) are to travel with the team.