South Africa name reduced contracts list

South Africa have unveiled their list of centrally contracted players for the 2005-06 season, and as anticipated, it has been trimmed from a squad of 20 to just 13 elite players.

Despite his performance in the Centurion Test, Monde Zondeki is one of the unlucky players to miss out, alongside the rising star of South African cricket, AB de Villiers, who recorded his maiden Test century against England, also at Centurion, earlier in the season. At this early stage of their careers, however, a place on the tour of the Caribbean should be ample consolation.

Unlike de Villiers, Zondeki had been on South Africa's books for this season, and the other players who have been removed from the list are: Paul Adams, Lance Klusener, Garnett Kruger, Neil McKenzie, Albie Morkel, Robin Peterson and Martin van Jaarsveld. Of those, only Morkel, who made an unbeaten double-century for Titans in the latest round of SuperSport matches, is likely to have a role in South Africa's near future.

Commenting on the reduction in contracted players, Haroon Lorgat, South Africa's convenor of selectors, said: "We feel that 20 was too many. There were times last year when we had many non-contracted players in the team. We would like to play, as often as possible, with a core group of contracted players.

"National contracts must be deserved and a just reward for consistent performance at the highest level over a period of time," added Lorgat, who went on to reassure de Villiers and Zondeki that a strong showing in the Caribbean might enable them to join the elite group. "This number is not capped," he said, "and the selectors may, from time to time, recommend additional players to be contracted."

The contracts, which run from May 2005 to April 2006, are broken down into four bands as follows:

A+
Graeme Smith
Herschelle Gibbs
Shaun Pollock
Makhaya Ntini
Jacques Kallis

A
Mark Boucher

B
Nicky Boje

C
Andre Nel
Boeta Dippenaar
Andrew Hall
Jacques Rudolph
Ashwell Prince
Charl Langeveldt