South Africa Name Preliminary World Cup Squad

South Africa Name Preliminary World Cup Squad

Jacques Rudolph has been named in South Africa's provisional World Cup squad

©Action Images / Lee Smith Livepic

South Africa have named four uncapped players in their 30-man provisional World Cup squad, while also handing recalls toa number of experienced players.

Batsman Jonathan Vandiar, all-rounder Francois du Plessis and Dean Elgar along with seamer Ethy Mbhalati are the uncapped players while there are recalls for Johannes van der Wath, Jacques Rudolph, Thami Tsolekile and Morne van Wyk.

Van der Wath and Rudolph had been ineligible to play for South Africa while they held county contracts under the Kolpak ruling but they have since renounced that status and made themselves available while wicket-keepers Tsolekile van Wyk had fallen behind the likes of AB de Viliers and Heino Kuhn in the pecking order.

“We indicated at the start of the season that we would reward players who performed well in domestic cricket,” selection convener Andrew Hudson said.

“There have been some highly impressive performances in the MTN40 and this has opened the door of opportunity for the likes of Faf du Plessis, Jonathan Vandiar, Ethy Mbhalati and Morne van Wyk among others.”

The squad will be trimmed to 15 players well ahead of the tournament, which gets underway on 19th February in Dhaka.

South Africa preliminary World Cup squad: Graeme Smith (captain), Hashim Amla, Jacques Kallis, AB de Villiers, Alviro Petersen, Loots Bosman, Jacques Rudolph, Morne van Wyk, Jonathan Vandiar, JP Duminy, David Miller, Colin Ingram, Albie Morkel, Robin Peterson, Mark Boucher, Thami Tsolekile, Francois du Plessis, Dean Elgar, Heino Kuhn, Morne Morkel, Dale Steyn, Wayne Parnell, Lonwabo Tsotsobe, Johan Botha, Ryan McLaren, Charl Langeveldt, Juan Theron, Ethy Mbhalati, Roelof van der Merwe, Johannes van der Wath

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