March 13, 2008	Thursday	Rabi-ul-Awwal 4,1429

JOHANNESBURG, March 12: South African selection convenor Joubert Strydom admitted on Wednesday there had been “a lot of discussion” before the announcement of a 14-man squad for the three-match Test series in India.

The squad meets Cricket South Africa’s target of six players of colour.

In two changes from the squad originally selected for the recent Test series in Bangladesh, two coloured players, fast bowler Charl Langeveldt and left-arm spin bowler Robin Peterson, replaced two white cricketers, Andre Nel and Johan Botha.

“There was a lot of discussion and toing-and-froing,” said Strydom, although he did not comment directly on rumours that the squad had again been the subject of a tug-of-war between the selectors and Cricket SA president Norman Arendse.

The announcement last month of the team for Bangladesh, which only included four black players, was delayed by more than a week and eventually departed without the sanction of Arendse, who then won backing from Cricket SA’s general council for a policy of six players of colour in a 14-man squad.

Strydom did not comment on individual selections but the two changes are unlikely to weaken the Test starting line-up. Although Nel was in the Test squad in Bangladesh he did not play in either Test.

Squad: Graeme Smith (captain), Ashwell Prince (vice-captain), Hashim Amla, Mark Boucher, A.B. de Villiers, J.P. Duminy, Paul Harris, Jacques Kallis, Charl Langeveldt, Neil McKenzie, Morne Morkel, Makhaya Ntini, Robin Peterson, Dale Steyn.—AFP