Cullinan to open for SA in Dhaka
Bob Dubery for CricInfo
27 Sep 1998
Daryll Cullinan has been asked to open the batting for South
Africa in the forthcoming Wills International Cup limited overs
tournament in Dhaka, Bangladesh.
The move to the top of the order seems to be influenced by the
success enjoyed by Mark Waugh for Australia and Sachin Tendulkar
for India, both of whom are similarly promoted for their
countries in limited overs games.
``If duty calls, I'm there,'' was Cullinan's response. ``It's a big
opportunity for me.''
Cullinan's natural inclination is to play strokes and build an
innings rather than to play the role of a run chaser. He averages
around 36 in ODIs, but that figure improves to nearly 50 for the
occasions on which he has gone in at number 3.
The selectors have stressed that Cullinan is not being considered
as Gary Kirsten's opening partner for Test matches. It is
anticipated that Adam Bacher will fill that role once he recovers
from his shoulder injury.
Cullinan's promotion is an acknowledgement of a batting problem
in the South African team. Mike Rindel, Herschelle Gibbs and
Andrew Hudson - all of whom played in the Commonwealth Games
winning team - have been discarded. Convenor of Selectors Peter
Pollock observed that ``they have not provided the answers to our
batting problem, and they need to regain their form.''
The Selectors used the Commonwealth Games to blood a new look
team, and some of the new faces have been retained for Wills
Trophy. Dale Benkenstein is expected to make his official
international debut at number 6 in SA's opening match against
England on October 25th, and the two heroes of SA's semi-final
win over Sri Lanka, Alan Dawson and Nicky Boje, retain their
places in the squad.
Dawson performed well in Kuala Lumpur and deserves to retain his
place, but his case was helped by the unavailability of three
regular bowlers. Allan Donald is being rested ahead of the series
against the West Indies, and Lance Klusener (ankle) and Roger
Telemachus (shoulder) are still recuperating after surgery.
Paul Adams is also omitted from the squad, and Boje and Gauteng's
Derek Crookes will back up first-choice spinner Pat Symcox. The
selectors are not willing to play 2 spinners in a match if the
balance of the batting lineup will be affected, and Boje and
Crookes are both useful peformers with the bat.
Contributed by Bob Dubery
Source: CricInfo
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