Ultimately, Ryan McLaren’s poor returns with bat and ball on the one-day tour to Australasia late last year proved costly.
His performances in the two years prior to that tour were pored over by Andrew Hudson’s selection panel – who had input, too, from skipper AB de Villiers – but finally they reflected on those poor showings in the five ODIs McLaren played in Australia and New Zealand last year, and decided he didn’t fit their plans for the World Cup.
Harsh? Consider that over the past two years South Africa have played 45 ODIs and McLaren took part in 41 of those. In that period he claimed 68 wickets; the next best were Morné Morkel and Dale Steyn, tied on 49. Last year, he was still the second-highest wicket-taker with 23 wickets – behind Morkel’s 24.
McLaren, who turns 32 in a month’s time, suffered a broken arm during the one-day triangular series in Zimbabwe last year courtesy of Mitchell Johnson. It was an injury from which he never properly recovered before embarking on the trip Down Under in October and it showed in his performances – in New Zealand, in the only match in which he bowled, he conceded 59 runs in eight overs, while in Australia he bowled 26 overs in three matches, conceded 166 runs and picked up just a wicket.
With the bat, he struggled against the short ball too, an indication that his inability to recover physically was matched by his inability to re- cover mentally.
“We know what Ryan can do and perhaps (the series against Australia)… I’m not saying it’s the reason, but he came back from injury and didn’t really fire and struggled a little bit in Australia and New Zealand. Unfortunately he’s missed out,” Hudson said.
He pointed out that McLaren and Wayne Parnell were effectively competing for one spot. McLaren’s steady, almost predictable and disciplined approach lost out to Parnell’s ability to pull something out of the hat when least expected – what coach Russell Domingo and lately Hudson like to describe as the “X-factor”.
McLaren didn’t have that “X-factor” – he was predictable, and in that regard he was supposed to offer control, something which he didn’t do in Australia.
Some may deem his omission as being a superficial call on the part of Hudson and his selection panel, especially in light of the selections of Rilee Rossouw and Farhaan Behardien.
The latter ostensibly got in on the back of some decent bowling performances in Australia – where he was a replacement for JP Duminy – but besides that 41-ball innings of 63 in the final match, which South Africa lost, he’d hardly shown at international level the finishing ability that’s made him such a crucial part of the Titans’ limited-overs sides in recent seasons.
Rossouw made his first ODI half-century in that match – his ninth outing – and he has more ducks to his name – four – than scores over 30.
“We’ve got to have the extra batter, a spare batter,” explained Hudson about picking Rossouw. “We felt he could bat at the top of the order. If he does come in, he’ll bat at No3 or open and everyone moves down – AB (de Villiers) and JP (Duminy) then moves a place down which helps your middle order. We might not bat him at 6 or 7, but rather at the top. On what he’s shown, he strikes the ball well, and he had one or two knocks in Australia…”
With only 15 allowed in a squad there will always be those who are unfortunate to miss out – McLaren is certainly the most unfortunate – and those perhaps lucky to be there, and in the case of the South African World Cup squad Rossouw and Behardien would slot into that category.
South Africa need to find a team structure that best suits them. For all his struggles towards the end of his career, Jacques Kallis still provided that all-round assurance that meant South Africa could play seven batsmen and have five bowlers. They battled to find that balance in Australasia last November, hence De Villiers suddenly taking on some bowling responsibility.
Of course, the absence of JP Duminy was keenly felt, and his return will be vital to restoring that balance, but there are concerns about his fitness. He was supposed to be back for the three T20 Internationals against the West Indies, but now he’s slated for a return for the first ODI in Durban on Friday.
Taking precaution with an important player like Duminy is prudent, but he has to play all five ODIs against West Indies, to ensure everyone is confident (including Duminy himself) that he can deal with the rigours not just of playing, but training and then travelling in a relatively short time, because that’s what he’ll encounter at the World Cup.
If Parnell, Behardien or Vernon Philander don’t shape up – especially with the bat – in the latter part of the innings, South Africa will have a real problem. The inability to hit “big” at the end of the innings was a concern that emerged out of the series against Australia and the South African strategy of having a “set” batsman in for the final 10 overs was something that seems somewhat old-fashioned. How keenly will they feel the absence of a power-hitter in the mould of a Lance Klusener, Albie Morkel or Shaun Pollock?
Hudson believes, however, that the sense of togetherness, particularly among the senior group, will off-set such a technical short-coming.
“This team has a unique DNA. Some of the scarring and some of the history is not as prevalent in this group,” he explained.
“In those situations where we are under pressure, I think this team will pull together beautifully because of the off-the-field stuff (Protea fire and all that)… they support each other, there’s no conflict, there’s no dissension, guys are all going in the same direction.
“My hope is that when we are under pressure at critical times in the tournament, that desperation, that pulling-together, will give us the X- factor to get us across the line.
“I don’t see much of it in other teams. I think Australia have it, but there is a real togetherness in this team and it will help them tremendously,” said Hudson.