Shortlist announced for SA player of the year

South Africa's resurgence towards the end of last season has made the choice of five Mutual & Federal South African Cricket Annual players of the year even more difficult than usual.

The five players will be named at a banquet in Johannesburg on September 26. The function will launch the 2006 edition of the highly acclaimed South African Cricket Annual.

Among the players in contention are former nominees and perennial contenders such as Jacques Kallis, Makhaya Ntini and South African captain Graeme Smith, who have all been selected for the World XI, which will play against Australia in October. Smith will captain the World XI Test side.

But there are a host of contenders, including former winners Andre Nel, Shaun Pollock and Mark Boucher, as well as other national team members AB de Villiers, Boeta Dippenaar, Ashwell Prince, Charl Langeveldt, Monde Zondeki and Justin Kemp.

There were also some strong performances in domestic cricket, with Hashim Amla, Lance Klusener, Tyron Henderson and Adam Bacher among those who shone.

Kallis had another year of phenomenally high scoring in Test cricket, while Ntini was the spearhead of South Africa's bowling attack. Ntini recorded the best match figures by a South African in Test matches when he took 13 for 132 against the West Indies in Port of Spain, Trinidad.

Skipper Smith had an excellent tour of the West Indies, making three centuries in successive Tests. He also made a breakthrough in one-day cricket. Having had to wait until his 59th match to make his first one-day international century, he peeled off four in eight innings.

Nel became an integral part of the South African bowling attack, while Pollock continued to be one of the most consistent performers on the world stage. Boucher overcame the disappointment of being dropped at the start of the season to re-establish himself as an outstanding wicketkeeper-batsman.

De Villiers made a huge impact in his first season in the national side, while Dippenaar and Prince both established themselves as first-choice batsmen. Langeveldt and Zondeki both produced good bowling performances, while Kemp marked his return to the national one-day side with some thrilling hitting.

Amla and Klusener both had outstanding seasons for the Dolphins, while Henderson of the Warriors and Bacher of the Lions were among the top players in limited overs cricket.

Colin Bryden, editor, makes the final choice. He has produced a 608-page volume packed with information and articles about South African cricket, lavishly illustrated with colour photographs.

The 2005 edition features several changes to take account of the new domestic cricket structure under the franchise system. This has made necessary a revision of the domestic records sections, a task undertaken by Andrew Samson, the world-renowned official statistician of the United Cricket Board.

There are full reports and detailed scorecards of all South Africa's Tests and one-day internationals during the 2004-05 season, including the triumphant tour of the West Indies; a report on the Women's World Cup held in South Africa; and reports on domestic cricket in South Africa, ranging from first-class matches to schools cricket.