South Africa’s rising star, AB de Villiers, will make his one-day debut against England on Wednesday, after being controversially overlooked for the opening fixture at the Wanderers over the weekend

Andrew Miller01-Feb-2005

Geraint Jones: promotion is no Christmas present© Getty Images
South Africa’s rising star, AB de Villiers, will make his one-day debut against England on Wednesday, after being controversially overlooked for the opening fixture at the Wanderers over the weekend.De Villiers, 20, eased into international cricket during the recent Test series, where he performed with such aplomb in a variety of different roles that his selection for the one-day side seemed to be a given. But instead the selectors, in their wisdom, plumbed for Adam Bacher instead, whose first international appearance in seven years ended with an ugly smear across the line.”We had selected Adam because of his experience, but we were very disappointed with the irresponsible shot he played when he lost his wicket,” said Haroon Lorgat, South Africa’s convener of selectors. Bacher made just 4 from 18 balls, although there is the possibility that he will yet earn a reprieve, as Herschelle Gibbs is nursing a groin strain.As for de Villiers, his omission was yet another example of the selectorial meddling that has coloured his career to date. Lesser characters would have been cowed by the treatment he has received, which included opening the batting on debut, taking the wicketkeeping gloves for his second and third games, and then propping up the fallible middle order for his fourth match at the Wanderers. Graeme Smith’s head injury in that match meant he had returned to the opener’s position by the end of the series, and responded with innings of 92 and 109 at Centurion.South Africa’s main problem all summer has been in the middle order, and so there is the distinct possibility that de Villiers will once again be charged with an extra responsibility when he finally makes his one-day debut. Among the bowlers, Andrew Hall may come in for Nicky Boje. Despite Mark Boucher’s experience, he may well be sacrificed to accommodate an extra specialist batsman, with de Villiers set to open and keep wicket, just as his opposite number, Geraint Jones, now does for England.Jones’s first innings of the series was not particularly auspicious – he made just 8 from 11 balls – but his fearless hitting surfaced on two occasions during the Test series, at Durban and Centurion, and when in the groove, he can be relied on to take advantage of the fielding restrictions in the first 15 overs. “The captain told me that it was not a Christmas present,” Jones told BBC Sport. “I’ve been told I’ll have a good spell there, and I can get my head around the job for this whole series.”England have few concerns going into their second match. Kevin Pietersen overcame a predictably hostile Johannesburg crowd to open his account for the series, while Michael Vaughan shrugged off the controversy surrounding his run-in with Clive Lloyd, the ICC match referee, to top-score with a matchwinning 44 not out.England’s actual matchwinners, however, were the bowlers, all of whom “hit the right areas”, to borrow the phrase that did the rounds during the Tests. Most impressive of all was Darren Gough, who bowled with skill and speed to pick up 2 for 27 in his 10 overs, and afterwards rejoiced at being able to strike back at his critics. “I’ve been dead meat for two years,” he admitted, but even at the age of 34, his Dazzleness is undoubtedly back on the throne.With a 1-0 lead and a settled side, England will once again be favourites when the first of their five day-night encounters gets underway in Bloemfontein, but as was demonstrated in the Test series, nothing can be taken for granted when these two sides take the field.South Africa (probable) 1 Graeme Smith (capt), 2 AB de Villiers, 3 Jacques Kallis, 4 Adam Bacher, 5 Ashwell Prince, 6 Justin Kemp, 7 Mark Boucher (wk), 8 Shaun Pollock, 9 Nicky Boje, 10 Makhaya Ntini, 11 Andre Nel.England (probable) 1 Marcus Trescothick, 2 Geraint Jones, 3 Michael Vaughan (capt), 4 Andrew Strauss, 5 Kevin Pietersen, 6 Paul Collingwood, 7 Ian Bell, 8 Ashley Giles, 9 Kabir Ali, 10 Darren Gough, 11 Matthew Hoggard.