Tahir, Ingram given CSA contracts
Imran Tahir and Colin Ingram have both been added to the list of contracted South Africa players, while Albie Morkel was also given a one-year contract till May 2012
ESPNcricinfo staff
25-Feb-2011
Imran Tahir has been given a contract with the South African board after having just played one international match for them • Getty Images
A day after he produced the best bowling performance by a South Africa player on debut in a World Cup, Imran Tahir has been awarded a national contract by Cricket South Africa. Also joining the list of contracted players was Colin Ingram, the left-hand batsman who is part of South Africa's World Cup squad but did not feature in Thursday's game against West Indies
The two players are part of a list of 20 who have been given one-year contracts starting from May 1. Only two players in South Africa's current World Cup fifteen have not been given contracts: allrounder Faf du Plessis and wicketkeeper-batsman Morne van Wyk. Loots Bosman, Albie Morkel, Rusty Theron and Ryan McLaren were given contracts despite not having made the cut for the fifteen.
The CSA can contract up to 22 players so there is the possibility of another couple of players being offered contracts at any point during the twelve-month period.
du Plessis has played just one ODI for South Africa, while van Wyk has only played two in the last three years. The Pakistani-born legspinner Tahir was only granted South African citizenship in January, and giving him a contract underlines South Africa's aim to make him an important part of their squad in all formats.
Ingram is a highly-rated hard-hitting 25-year-old batsman, and though his one-day career so far has been up and down - some of which may be due to the fact that he has not batted in a settled position - a contract should give him some assurance of his place in South Africa's setup. Overlooked for a contract was David Miller, another left-hand batsman who was given an ODI cap before Ingram, and made an impressive start to his international career only to fade away in the last few months, leading to his exclusion from the World Cup squad.
In another announcement, the CSA chief Gerald Majola said the board was in well-advanced negotiations with the BCCI to grant icon status to future Test series between South Africa and India with the likelihood of either four or five Tests being played when the sides next meet.
The India tour of South Africa in 2010-11, which included three Tests, a one-off Twenty20 international and five one-dayers, brought in record gate takings for the country. There are also plans, according to CSA, to stage an annual Twenty20 match between the two countries with a mix of cricket and entertainment. The venue for this match will alternate between South Africa and India.
CSA's contracted players from May 2011 to May 2012: Graeme Smith, Hashim Amla, Loots Bosman, Johan Botha, Mark Boucher, AB de Villiers, JP Duminy, Colin Ingram, Jacques Kallis, Ryan McLaren, Albie Morkel, Morne Morkel, Wayne Parnell, Alviro Petersen, Robbie Peterson, Ashwell Prince, Dale Steyn, Imran Tahir, Rusty Theron, Lonwabo Tsotsobe