A look at the T20 Cricket World Cup squad of the Proteas reveals that there is just one black African in the lineup, and limited overs coach Rob Walter said he picks his teams based purely on merit.
Last month Aiden Markram was appointed as Proteas T20 International skipper, replacing Temba Bavuma. It meant Bavuma could still be selected as purely a batsman, but that was not the case with the World Cup squad announced on Monday.
It meant Kagiso Rabada is the only black African player in the side.
When asked if Walter had consulted with Cricket SA (CSA) over the selection of his players for the tournament starting in June, he insisted that he picked the best possible team.
Proteas coach Rob Walter on discussions with CSA on team selection ahead of the T20 World Cup pic.twitter.com/4OwfcfzM0T
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Number one imperative
“The reality and my number one imperative is to create a winning Proteas team. In order to do that, every time I have to pick the best at the time that I think will give us a chance of doing that. The system really needs to up the ante so that in six months, 12 months or two years time, and particular when we reach the 2027 Cricket World Cup at home - that we the demographics and representation in our team starts to look a bit different,” said Walter.
Walter did, however, hint that more black African players could feature in his side in non-world cup series over the next while.
“Outside of the World Cup, we’ll continue to use our bilateral series to grow our base of players to create international opportunities.
“We need to ensure we’re bought in and are delivering on a process that’s going to change what our team looks like.”