Ryan Rickelton and Tristan Stubbs miss out on selection while Jason Smith cracks the nod. Ryan Rickelton, who has had another blistering start in this season’s SA20 competition, has been left out of South Africa’s T20 World Cup squad, which was announced on Friday. The tournament begins on 7 February in India and Sri Lanka.
The selection committee, which consists of convener of selectors Patrick Moroney and head coach Shukri Conrad, have deemed Rickelton and power-hitter Tristan Stubbs as surplus to requirements. “It was a big decision between Quinny de Kock and [Ryan] Rickelton, but ultimately we decided to go with De Kock to open up with [Aiden] Markram,” Moroney said of the selection decision. Despite Rickelton’s consistently excellent scores for MI Cape Town in the SA20 – where he is the leading run scorer across the first four seasons – he hasn’t kicked on with the same form on the international stage.
The wicket-keeper batter passed the 50 mark only twice in his 18 T20 International innings. Similarly, Stubbs’ confidence in the format seems to be shot. In his last six T20 innings, which include the CSA T20 Challenge, national team duty and the SA20, he has passed double digits only three times, with a top score of 37.
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Instead, batters Jason Smith and Tony de Zorzi have cracked the nod. Both players have represented South Africa only twice in T20 Internationals across their careers, with De Zorzi making his debut in Pakistan at the end of October. The southpaw is currently out injured, but is expected to be fit by the time South Africa play West Indies in a series that begins on 27 January.
Smith, meanwhile, made his T20 debut against West Indies in 2024, but only played for the country again against Namibia in October last year, when a largely second-string side lost by four wickets to their geographic neighbours. Smith’s form has been otherworldly, with the biggest highlight being an undefeated 19-ball 68 he struck against the Titans for the Dolphins in the CSA T20 Challenge in November to win the match for the Durban-based side. More recently, he struck a 14-ball 41 on his debut for MI Cape Town at the start of the ongoing SA20 tournament.
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