New-look Proteas for T20

LONDON Heathrow will see a lot of South Africa’s cricketers zooming back and forth over the next few weeks.

The Proteas’ early exit from the Champions Trophy has seen an unexpected week of leisure thrown into what is a three-month trip.

Some players had always been pencilled in to have a break, to keep them fresh for the big Test series beyond the ODI tournament.

But, that break was brought forward by the group stage elimination, and is further complicated by the upcoming Global T20 League big reveal on Monday at Lord’s, which requires marquee players to be there.

Thus, some players have gone home for a week, will return in time for Monday’s event, and then take another week off.

With all that happening, part-time Test player AB de Villiers will deputise for Test and T20 skipper Faf du Plessis, and lead an experimental side to play the three-match series against England.

This T20 series was always the filling in a patty-less burger of a summer for the Proteas.

Du Plessis is flying home for the pending birth of his first child, while Test stars Quinton de Kock, JP Duminy and Kagiso Rabada are among those who have been rested.

Lions all-rounder Dwaine Pretorius is the only new cap in the side.

“We have been impressed as a panel by the quality of players coming through our franchise and SA ‘A’ system,” convenor Linda Zondi explained.

Meanwhile, Lancashire allrounder Liam Livingstone is one of five uncapped players named in England’s T20 squad for the series.

Dawid Malan, Tom Curran, Mason Crane and Craig Overton are also included in the 16-man squad.

Moeen Ali, Jake Ball, Adil Rashid, Joe Root and Ben Stokes are all rested by England while Tymal Mills is ruled out through a back injury.

Livingstone, 23, is viewed as one of English cricket’s most exciting young talents and scored an 83-ball 129 against the tourists for England Lions.

Crane, a 20-year-old legbreak bowler, played for New South Wales as an overseas player earlier this year.