Zondi: Morris needs to up his game, we need consistency from him

“CHRIS MORRIS is a bowling allrounder, who often sends the speedgun beyond 140km/h and bats fearlessly in the lower order. He is also a handy slip fielder.”

That is the opening few lines on the 31-year-old Proteas all-rounder’s Cricinfo profile. Judging by those attributes, Morris would be the ideal fit for South Africa’s World Cup ambitions in England next year. But yet Morris has only played 34 one-day internationals since his debut in Birmingham five years ago.

This has primarily been due to a horrid run of injuries – the latest being a back ailment sustained during the IPL in April – but also due to a lack of consistency. Too often Morris has gone from being a match-winner, to an innocuous performer who still only averages 19.62 with the bat and 40.42 with the ball in ODIs.

But having now fully recovered and done the hard work in two fourday matches, where he bowled 56 overs and took 12 wickets at 16.33 and formed part of the Titans squad that reached the final of the Abu Dhabi T20 Trophy, Morris has been granted one final chance to prove to the national selectors that he is the seam-bowling all-rounder to move forward with as “Vision 2019” approaches conclusion.

It certainly was a surprise to see middle-order batsman Farhaan Behardien’s name among the 15-man squad chosen for the three ODIs and lone T20 Down Under, considering players such as Christiaan Jonker, Khaya Zondo and Rassie van der Dussen were utilised in the middle order against Zimbabwe. The latter, particularly, impressed during the T20 series where he struck a half-century on debut in East London.

Zondi, though, explained that the 35-year-old Behardien’s recall was primarily due his 59-match ODI experience. “We have lost a lot of experience in our specialist batting order through the injuries to Hashim Amla and JP Duminy, and Farhaan gives us another experienced option in the top order,” Zondi said. Proteas squad for Australia: Faf du Plessis (capt), Farhaan Behardien, Quinton de Kock (wk), Reeza Hendricks, Imran Tahir, Heinrich Klaasen, Aiden Markram, David Miller, Chris Morris, Lungisani Ngidi, Andile Phehlukwayo, Dwaine Pretorius, Kagiso Rabada, Tabraiz Shamsi, Dale Steyn.