Kings holding thumbs over star turns Hales and Wasim
THE Stellenbosch Global T20 franchise has enjoyed an eventful ride in its first few weeks of existence.
Already ownership has changed hands, to Preity Zinta (pictured). The name has been changed from Stellenbosch Monarchs to Stellenbosch Kings and logos and colours have also been swopped too. But the drama is not over yet, with two of the Kings’ major international signings Alex Hales and Imad Wasim under a cloud of uncertainty, for entirely different reasons.
England opener Hales has been in sensational form recently The tall right-hander has blasted 507 runs at average of 33.80, but at the amazing strike-rate of 204.43, to power his county side Nottinghamshire to the NatWest T20 Blast title.
His clean striking has not been confined to T20 cricket, with Hales also smashing a match-winning, record-breaking 187 in the Royal London Cup. Throw in a run-a-ball 218 against Derbyshire in the English County Championship and the possibility of a recall to Test cricket for the Ashes tour to Australia at the end of the year seems a distinct possibility. This would, of course, then rule Hales out of the inaugural Global T20 League.
“We’ll definitely be watching that Ashes squad selection with interest,” Kings assistant coach Eric Simons told Independent Media at Val de Vie Estate in Franschhoek yesterday.
“Time will tell whether we will have Alex. We were very excited to get him in our first draft.”
The situation surrounding Wasim’s participation is less clear. The Pakistan left-arm spinner, the world’s No 1-ranked T20 bowler, has been earmarked to play a major role in the Kings’ strategy as he often bowls in the power-plays and at the death.
There is uncertainty around whether Wasim will be allowed to participate in the Global T20 League due to the Pakistan Cricket Board re-scheduling their own T20 competition over the same time period.
At this stage Cricket SA remain confident that the Pakistan players purchased in the draft will be available for the tournament, but Simons is understandably concerned about whether they will be allowed to replace the duo should the need arise.
“It was one of our first questions because those are two important components for us as they were our first two picks. Cricket SA seems pretty confident that it will work. Obviously there is a lot of focus on the World XI (currently playing a T20 series against Pakistan in Lahore) right now and what’s going on there, but I think there is a sense of co-operation among all the countries that it will be fine.
“We don’t have absolute clarity. The talk around injuries was that if you have an injury within the tournament you have to stay (with players) in the draft. But this is a unique situation.
“They are both high-profile players. I think the circumstances are very different. Maybe they will let us go outside of the draft and see who is available. I think they will cross that bridge when the problem arises and hopefully (it) won’t.”