Minimal experimentation from South Africa

There are very few times in professional sport when the opportunity for experimentation presents itself. On the training ground, where time and creativity permit, trial and error has its place. In warm-up matches, combinations can occasionally be shuffled and strategies can be tested. But, in match situations, there is little room for any of that and teams are expected to go in with clear tactics, solid game plans and a settled unit. For the upcoming series against Sri Lanka, South Africa had that opportunity.

Given the current form of the Sri Lankan side - who last won a Test in July 2010 and have not won away from home since January 2009 in Chittagong - there was room to juggle. While balance had to be maintained between treating the opposition with due respect and fielding a strong enough team to keep consistency, the window for introducing wild-cards and rewarding accomplished domestic performers was also open and the selectors have only just crept through it.

South Africa's squad has one old name and one new added to it from the group who faced Australia - and have left many other names behind.

Alviro Petersen has been recalled, amid calls about the unfairness of dropping him after just nine Tests, in which he scored over 500 runs. Petersen was a victim of the impossible-to-ignore form of Jacques Rudolph, whose bat was the King Midas of the pitch.

So strong was the belief that Rudolph would turn the international stage to gold that Petersen was shunned. Rudolph was unable to replicate the magic, and the alarming ways in which he was dismissed - with clumsy and often reckless strokeplay - has resulted in Petersen being brought back to being some old-fashioned sobriety to the batting line-up, if he plays.

For Petersen to play, either Rudolph will have to be dropped, which would be harsh, given that he has only played two Tests since making his comeback, or moved down the order, which would also be harsh, given that it is not his preferred position. Some will remember that Rudolph batted in the middle order when he started at Yorkshire and will question why he can't do that again. They will forget that Michael Vaughan was still playing and Rudolph had little say regarding where he could bat.

A No. 6 batsman - which is only position Rudolph could occupy- rarely has the liberties to play a shot a ball, like Rudolph has been doing. Often, as Ashwell Prince has proven on numerous occasions, that batsman has to have the temperament to weather a storm. Rudolph's performances against Australia do not suggest he is ready to do that.

Prince remains under pressure, as has always been the case, with his only saving grace the half-century he scored in the Wanderers Test against Australia. It was an innings that helped drag South Africa off the cliff and his partnership with AB de Villiers put them onto steadier ground. Prince did not enjoy the best of series and should he fail again the reality of being dropped will become starker, but he was one of the few batsmen who, at times, showed the composure required to craft a Test innings. More importantly, with Mark Boucher out of form and South Africa's tail having grown, with the inclusion of Imran Tahir, a solid No. 6 is a must.

If Prince is to be replaced, JP Duminy has been touted as his likely successor. Duminy was dropped from the Test squad with questions about his technique still being asked but he would be a better choice than Rudolph for the middle order, given that is his regular playing position. Another option, overlooked on numerous occasions, is Dean Elgar.

Elgar, the Knights batsman, has averaged over 50 in the two seasons prior to this one and has shown the maturity required to play in the longest form of the game. With fast-tracking creeping into the selection strategy, particularly in the Marchant de Lange case, it remains a mystery why Elgar has been strung along with no reward so far.

de Lange's pacy rise up the ranks has come as something of a surprise, given his first-class experience is only 14 matches. He is genuinely quick and his raw talent has given the management reason to be excited but even his franchise coach, Matthew Maynard, admitted that, like any tearaway, de Lange needs to be taught about control and consistency. Those are skills he will learn, to some extent, while spending time with the national squad but to a greater degree from experience in the first-class game. Vernon Philander is testament to that.

de Lange's inclusion in the national squad will aggrieve the likes of Wayne Parnell. The left-armer has been on the fringes for the last three years, been included in tours, been injured, been discarded and eventually been left to do what Philander had to. There is reason to think the same will happen to de Lange.

South Africa's fast-bowling reserves have expanded, after initial concern that they were dwindling. Lonwabo Tsotsobe, who missed out on selection because he is still recovering from a side-strain, provides ample competition for Philander at Test level and Rusty Theron, who has long been in the queue, does the same for the third-seamer's spot in the shorter version of the game.

While de Lange's inclusion is a tick in the column of fuelling young dreams, how he is handled going forward will be the real Test of the management's commitment to developing the next generation, something they have failed in, in the most concerning department - wicket-keeping. While a back-up wicket-keeper is unheard of in a home series, it would have been crucial for this one. Boucher's cricket mortality is becoming an unavoidable topic and the need to find a replacement is ever-pressing. Talk during the Australia series was that a successor would be found and groomed by the man himself but that idea appears to have been shelved.

Thami Tsolekile, who will play in the Invitation XI, Heino Kuhn, who has featured in previous A team matches and Daryn Smit, who is growing in confidence and competence, have all been identified but not nurtured. Without a focused plan for who will take over, none of them can be blamed if they chose to follow in the footsteps of Nic Pothas and Kruger van Wyk, and make their futures outside of South Africa. The selectors have left possibility of adding to the squad open and would take a giant leap in the right direction by adding a gloveman to the squad, even if he does not play.

With tours to New Zealand, England and Australia in the coming 12 months, the window for experimentation opens and closes with the series against Sri Lanka. Like many windows of opportunity, it needs to be flung open and enjoyed and, so far, it has not.