Cape Town: Makhaya Ntini was dropped from the South African team on Sunday in a move which could hasten the end of a notable Test career. Ntini, 32, did not travel to the ground after being told that he was not in the team for the third Test at Newlands, the ground where he started his 101-Test career against Sri Lanka 12 seasons ago. Although the team was not announced publicly until shortly before the toss, the players were informed of the selection on Saturday and Ntini was given the option of returning home, according to team spokesman Michael Owen-Smith.
Ntini's axeing had been widely anticipated after he performed poorly in the first two Tests against England. In the 2008 calendar year he took only 13 wickets in six Tests at an average of 57.00. Experts believed that a loss of pace had reduced his effectiveness. Speculation about the future of a man described by both captain Graeme Smith and coach Mickey Arthur as one of South Africa's iconic cricketers was fuelled by a report in the London Sunday Telegraph which claimed Ntini was set to join English county Middlesex as a Kolpak player, which would preclude him from playing international cricket. The Sunday Telegraph claimed Ntini intended to announce his retirement from international cricket and that he had signed a pre-contract agreement with Middlesex.
0 comments:
Post a Comment