Cricket SA’s Patrick Moroney disputes Ottneil Baartman’s (pictured left) claim of not being informed about his omission from the Proteas T20 World Cup squad, stating he was indeed contacted, leaving the truth of the matter unclear. Picture: AFP Contrary to whatOttneil Baartmansaid earlier this month, Cricket SA (CSA) convenor of selectorsPatrick Moroneysays he did keep the player informed about his omission from theProteasT20 World Cup squad. The squad was announced in the first week of January, and there was an outcry over the omission of a number of players, including Baartman.
The 32-year-old Baartman had been a key part of the Proteas attack during their limited-over series against hosts India in December, and he was expected to be part of theT20 World Cupsquad. Baartman would go on to take the most wickets (20) in theSA20, which made his non-selection a hot topic. When asked if he had been kept in the loop that he would not be going to the World Cup, his answer was no.
“Ottneil, I have spoken to him. I mean, I did phone him. I did speak to him.
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So, how and why he said that to the media, you maybe need to find out from him, not from me. But that he was spoken to is definitely a fact,” Moroney toldSportsBoom.co.za “So, it’s very, very clear. I don’t know why we still have to rehash this continuously.
This has been cleared up. He knows that for us, again, the situation never changed. As I said, you maybe ask him why he said he was never spoken to.
And in my words, never spoken to means he never had a phone call. And that is not true.” This is exactly what Baartman said the first time he was asked about his absence from the Proteas T20 World Cup squad: “To be honest, I never had a conversation with them,” Baartman said. “Our selector called me when I was picked for the Indian series, but before that, nobody communicated with me.
Nobody actually spoke to me before or after [the World Cup squad announcement]. So, I can’t say anything more on that.” Therefore, it’s either Baartman or Moroney who is confused about the sequence of events, and who is correct remains open to interpretation.
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