Coaches play ball with Baxter for Cosafa date

Clubs readily release players

Cricket SA convenor of selectors LINDA ZONDI

Unlike his predecessors, Stuart Baxter had little trouble selecting Bafana Bafana’s Cosafa Cup squad even as two players were withdrawn by their clubs yesterday.

Baxter named a youthful squad last week to do duty in the regional tournament, which kicked off on Sunday.

Mandla Masango of SuperSport United and Francebased Lebogang Phiri are thus far the only players to withdraw from the original team. But their departure didn’t leave gaping holes in the team, unlike in the past when the squad had to be altered several times, thanks to teams refusing to release players for a non-Fifa sanctioned tournament.

“We have tried to build the team around the under-20 players who went to the World Cup.

“We also thought we should support them with experience from some players who have been on the fringes for some time – that’s why you see some of the overseas-based players in there,” Baxter said at the weekend, following SuperSport United’s triumph in the Nedbank Cup.

As he prepared for that final against Orlando Pirates, he took time to contact PSL coaches asking that they release the players for the Cosafa Cup.

Bafana will enter the tournament at the quarterfinal stage this Sunday, when they face Group A winners – either Tanzania, Malawi, Mauritius or Angola – at Royal Bafokeng.

“The clubs have been supportive,” Baxter said.

“I spoke to the coaches and they have been brilliant. The good thing is we brought in players who are youngish because we knew we couldn’t get certain players.

We accepted that and that’s why we didn’t even ask for those players.

“But for a tournament like Cosafa, and the Chan [African Nations Championship], we have to have a goal, to say what do we want to get out of it?”

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