Proteas coach Shukri Conrad has kept the door open for Anrich Nortje’s return to the ODI team, despite the fast bowler’s absence from the 16-player squad set to face Australia at the end of the month.
With pace spearhead Kagiso Rabada ruled out of the ODI series due to a hamstring injury, Conrad would have been on the hunt for an injection of pace to face the Aussies.
Ironically, Nortje’s last ODI series was against the Aussies all the way back in 2023, although the fast bowler was part of the Proteas’ squad at the T20 World Cup in India earlier this year.
The 32-year-old ‘Uitenhage Express’ is currently playing for the Rotterdam Dockers in the ETPL, where he recently claimed his first T20 five-for, but Conrad feels the seamer still needs to get more miles in his legs before returning to the Proteas ODI squad.
“I don’t think Ana’s done enough in terms of getting ready for ODI cricket, but I wouldn’t be too surprised if he wasn’t playing in the Bangladesh series as well,” Conrad explained.
Instead, the Proteas mentor has opted to recall fellow speedster Gerald Coetzee for the Australian series.
Coetzee has also been in the ODI wilderness since the 2023 World Cup, where he actually replaced an injured Nortje in the squad. The 25-year-old has had his own share of injury problems over the past three years, but is currently part of the South Africa A set-up, which has left Conrad confident that ‘the Karate Kid’ is fit and raring to go.
“Yeah, I’d like to think that he’s over all the injuries — that’s good,” he said. “He’s obviously had a good winter, played a four-day game for the A-side and was meant to play, well, got in a few overs yesterday in the rained-out match.
“So he’s also on track in terms of what his build-up is going to look like. So I’m really happy where he’s at. Like I say, the first-class games with the A-side were important.
“So yeah, raring to go and again, guys like Gerald, Ana, express pace and those are wonderful options to have as we build towards next year.”
Conrad also provided an update on Rabada’s progress in the hope that he will be fit for the Tests against Australia, starting on October 9 in Durban.
“I don’t think a hell of a lot changed from the last time. He’s out of the ODIs and we’ve got him constantly monitoring his rehabilitation and I think when we do sit down to select a Test squad, I think only then will we know and make an informed decision,” he said.
“But he’s tracking nicely, gathering the reports from all the physios that he’s been working with. Yeah, we’re really happy with how he’s going and look, it goes without saying, he’s a massive player. You only need to look at his record.
“So fingers crossed that all goes well and he’ll be taking the field for us. But yeah, we’ll play that and see how it pans out given his rehabilitation programme and the medical reports.”
