South Africa to rest de Villiers

SOUTH Africa captain AB de Villiers will skip the one-dayer against Ireland to allow more recovery time from an elbow injury before the five-match series against Australia.

His availability for the home series against Australia, which starts next week, would be subject to him passing a fitness test, Cricket South Africa said on Thursday.

De Villiers missed the recent series win against New Zealand due to the injury, which was the first time he has been forced to sit out a Test since his debut in 2004.

“AB has been on a rigorous rehabilitation and treatment plan for the last six weeks but is still complaining of pain in the elbow region,” team manager Mohammed Moosajee said.

“We hope that the extra time will allow the injury to respond to treatment.”

Faf du Plessis will captain the team in Sunday’s one-off match against Ireland in Benoni, near Johannesburg, and Rilee Rossouw has been added to the squad as batting cover.

JONATHAN Trott has described Australia as circling “like hyenas round a dying zebra” as a frighteningly fast Mitchell Johnson terrorised him during the 2013-14 Ashes series.

In his recently released autobiography, Unguarded, The former England Test batsman revealed Johnson’s brutal short-ball barrage was the reason he returned home just weeks into the tour.