Morne van Wyk to join South African squad

Morne van Wyk, the 24-year-old wicketkeeper-batsman from Free State, will join the injury hit South African squad in Pakistan. South Africa have been plagued by a number of fitness worries early on the tour: Herschelle Gibbs missed the first one-day international due to muscle soreness, Neil McKenzie suffered from back spasms, while Graeme Smith and Boeta Dippenaar were clearly bothered by the heat and humidity in that match.

Explaining the decision to opt for a reinforcement, Eric Simons, the South African coach, said: "We do have a few injury worries with Herschelle and Neil, and the severe heat and humidity also took its toll on Friday when Graeme Smith and Boeta Dippenaar suffered from cramps. Morne will give us more flexibility if we have further injury problems or if we decide to rotate players in the rest of the games." van Wyk will join the South African team on Monday.

South Africa have a busy schedule ahead of them in Pakistan, playing four ODIs in a week's time before being faced with back-to-back Tests. Simons added that the packed itinerary was also a reason why the team management decided to ask for cover. "It takes nearly 24 hours to travel from South Africa, so we would rather have him here than back home should problems arise next week."

van Wyk made his international debut in the NatWest Series final against England earlier this year, and has been in terrific batting form for the A side, scoring 52, 56 and 118 in three one-day matches against the Sri Lankan A team last week.