Tsolekile still does not fully understand why he was dropped during the New Zealand Test series
South Africa convenor of selectors Andrew Hudson has admitted that wicketkeeper Thami Tsolekile was supposed to replace batsman AB de Villiers behind the stumps for the New Zealand Test series, but he was denied the opportunity after de Villiers announced that he would like to continue donning the gloves for the Proteas.
Hudson’s guilty revelation came after Tsolekile stated that he was “disappointed” at being left out for a Test series once again and was confused about the reason why he had been dropped after the selectors gave him their word that he would be playing.
Tsolekile has been extremely vocal in the past couple of weeks, saying that he does not know if he can trust the national selectors any more since they continuously go back on their promises.
“I wasn’t expecting to play in England because I knew that I went there as a substitute when Mark Boucher was injured and I had no expectations at all,” Tsolekile told ESPNcricinfo. “When I packed my bags for Australia, I also knew I was going to be the back-up keeper.
“But before that tour, the selectors told me I would get a chance against New Zealand, especially if things go well. When I spoke to them again, I was getting different messages. There’s nothing I can do now. I’ll just keeping doing what I am doing for the Lions.”
Responding to the rather confusing situation, Cricket South Africa acting chief executive Jacques Faul confirmed that the board would “sit down and have a chat about what happened because we have to interrogate the process”, while Hudson noted that he “feels for Thami”.
Hudson was the person who delivered the bad news to Tsolekile and he stated that he was willing to be “transparent” and explain what had caused the selectors to change their decision.
“When Boucher was forced to retire in England we need a replacement and even though AB was reluctant to do the job, we asked to fill in for the next two tours,” he said. “We did tell Thami he would get his chance against New Zealand.
“After the tour to Australia, AB came back to us and said wants to continue keeping wicket because he is enjoying it. That was not the case six months ago. AB’s interest in doing the job meant the situation was different.”
However, Hudson revealed that de Villiers’ sudden interest in wicketkeeping was a blessing in disguise for Cricket South Africa since he was the board’s first choice as to who would replace Boucher after his freak eye injury.
“When he told us he wanted to play as the wicketkeeper that was fantastic news for us because we can now play an extra batter or extra bowler at No.7,” Hudson said. “It is not a case of him dictating to us. If he changes his mind at any stage, we will respect that.”
Even though de Villiers re-aggravated a back injury from the past while keeping, Hudson noted that the board would continue allowing him to hold the position, even if it means that he has to be rested for a couple of limited overs matches.
With de Villiers taking over the wicketkeeper’s position in the Test squad for now, the national selectors have been able to add one extra batsman, thus giving the Proteas seven batsmen, all of whom are capable of making a century on any given day.
However, after Jean Paul (JP) Duminy succumbed to an Achilles injury during the first Test against Australia in Brisbane, Hudson noted that South Africa would continue with their seven batsmen policy “especially when we have JP back”.
With a seven batsman policy in force, Hudson revealed that Tsolekile would be competing against de Villiers for the wicketkeeper’s slot on the Test squad.
“Thami is now in competition with AB for his place in the squad,” Hudson said.
While Tsolekile admitted that the situation was not explained that simply to him, he stated that Hudson had requested him to develop and improve his batting.
Hudson has already spoken to Lion’s head coach Geoff Toyana and asked him to elevate Tsolekile up the batting lineup in order for him to have an opportunity to score more centuries.
However, arguments all aside, there has been growing speculation amongst the cricketing community that Tsolekile’s exclusion shows Cricket South Africa are still not willing to include black Africans in the squad since the last black African to be included in the national side was pace bowler Lonwabo Tsotsobe in January 2011.
But, Hudson stated that the board “are committed to transformation”.
Faul mentioned that the board would look into ensuring that more black Africans have an opportunity to represent their country.
“We already have directives at semi-professional level to ensure black African players come through we may have to legislate it at franchise level as well,” he said.
Hudson noted that he would be pleased to see more black Africans playing for South Africa in the near future.
“If the board want to propose further guidelines, I will embrace them and see them through,” Hudson said.
In previous times, South Africa were made to play four players of different skin colours and religious backgrounds in every one of their teams, which meant that there would be black Africans, people of mixed races and those of Indian descent.