All Players To Get Game Time During T20 Series - Domingo

All Players To Get Game Time During T20 Series - Domingo

Dale steynSteyn is expected to play in the first match before Morne Morkel comes in for the final two games

©REUTERS / Action Images

South Africa's new Twenty20 coach Russell Domingo's first series in charge against New Zealand is bound to come in for plenty of scrutiny but he plans to give all 15 players in his squad playing time.

With AB de Villiers, Jacques Kallis and Hashim Amla absent, the series will afford opportunities to other players to step up and make a case for themselves to be picked on a regular basis.

And Domingo is hoping that the blend of youth and experience in the squad will help the side build towards the succes the Test team has enjoyed in the past 18 months.

bet365 make South Africa 1/4 favourites to win the three-match T20 series with New Zealand 3/1 against.

"We have 15 players, Dale (Steyn) will play on Friday and probably miss the last two, and Morne (Morkel) will come in and play after that so everybody is going to get some sort of game time in the series," Domingo confirmed.

"That is important for me in widening our base and giving guys an opportunity to perform at this level. The Test culture that has developed over the last couple of years is something that we are striving to take through to the shorter formats, it’s not going to happen overnight," he added.

"It will be a little bit of a process, but we are feeding it through in small drips at the moment. Little bits of what is happening in the Test side we are trying to incorporate here (T20 squad), while still doing certain things differently because it’s a different group of players, there are different ways to manage the younger players.

"The longer we have together, the more information we will provide these younger guys as to how things run in the national side. The guys have been excited about it and are buying into how it works."

He also confirmed that he is regularly in touch with Gary Kirsten, who retains overall accountability for the squad.

"I always touch base with him, he is ultimately the man in charge,” Domingo said. "I cannot deviate massively from the processes that he has put in place but I can do things differently in my own way.

"He (Kirsten) will be at one of the practices in East London and at the game in Port Elizabeth.  To not tap into Gary Kirsten’s thought process and brain would be foolish of me, I will be liaising with him continuously over the next few days."

The opening Twenty20 International is in Durban on 21st December, followed by matches in East London on 23rd and then Port Elizabeth on Boxing Day (26th December).

© Cricket World 2012