SA20 and the T20 World Cup don't intersect, selectors insist

Three hours after convenor selector Patrick Moroney read out South Africa's squad for the men's T20 World Cup squad in Sri Lanka and India in February and March, four of the chosen 15 were named in the XIs for the SA20 game between Paarl Royals and Mumbai Indians Cape Town at Boland Park on Friday. Along with five of those who might have cracked the nod, but didn't.

Top of mind was Ryan Rickelton, who scored the only century of the tournament so far - a 63-ball 113 in a losing cause against Durban's Super Giants at Newlands last Friday - but missed out.

Also in the XIs and in the ranks of the rejected were Rassie van der Dussen, Lhuan-dre Pretorius, Bjorn Fortuin and Ottneil Baartman. Kagiso Rabada, David Miller, George Linde and Jason Smith were in the squad as well as in Friday's XIs.

But maybe the SA20 and the World Cup don't intersect to a great degree in this Venn diagram. At least, that's how Moroney made it sound during a press conference: "It's very early doors for the [SA20] and the reality of it is it's still fairly domestic with a lot of domestic guys playing against each other. Guys like Rickleton are expected to perform well at this level. The international step up is significantly higher.

"When you look at those [SA20] performances you might be taking your eye off the ball in your thought processes. It is good to have the tournament, but I don't think it has played a significant role in the selection of the squad.

"We're hoping our players will use this opportunity to get into better nick, and that that will give us the advantage when we play the Windies [in three home T20Is from January 27 to February 1] before we depart for India."

That argument might also explain why Tristan Stubbs, for some the most notable omission, didn't make it. He scored 300 runs at a strike rate of 150.75 in 13 innings for Delhi Capitals in last year's IPL. That's decent, and Stubbs was on course for similar numbers in his seven T20I innings in 2025, when he made 152 in seven trips to the crease - but at a markedly reduced strike rate of 121.6. If the logic is that international performances mean more than those delivered at franchise level, Stubbs non-selection makes sense.

That Moroney fielded the press' questions told its own story. Usually Shukri Conrad is called on to explain selectorial decisions. But Conrad left last Saturday on a two-week pilgrimage to Mecca. By then the squad would have been pretty much finalised, especially with the SA20 not playing much of a role in Conrad's and Moroney's deliberations. The few outstanding issues were settled through electronic communication.

Moroney had a point in that only nine SA20 matches had been played when he spoke. That leaves 25 others. It's a quirk of this year's competition, which was brought forward because no international cricket has been scheduled in the country this summer to allow for grounds to be upgraded ahead of South Africa's hosting of the 2027 men's World Cup along with Zimbabwe and Namibia. South Africans are used to having live cricket, usually Tests, to watch in December and January. They can thank the SA20 that they have something to see this time.

But that means there will be plenty of opportunity to second-guess the selectors' decisions before the squad embarks for Asia. Already there is ammunition to do so - the unpicked Pretorius drilled 10 fours and two sixes in his unbeaten 98 off 65 in match No. 10 on Friday, when the picked Rabada went wicketless for 46 in his four overs, an economy rate of 11.50. No-one is going to argue with Rabada's inclusion, but a few more outings like Friday's wouldn't inspire confidence.

Paarl's 181/3 was their highest total at home in the history of the competition, which left Cape Town what would have been a record chase at Boland Park. The visitors made a sound start: Van der Dussen celebrated being left out with 59 off 42, and shared 77 off 47 with Rickelton, who made 36 off 20. Cape Town reached the last over needing 15, which Baartman was entrusted to defend. He did nervelessly, and Paarl won by a solitary run.

Of course, Conrad and Moroney could also have their choices justified. But, on Friday, that wasn't especially evident.

Rickelton, Baartman and Fortuin were part of the squad that took South Africa all they way to the 2024 T20 World Cup final - their first senior men's decider in any format, which they lost to India by seven runs.

But that was then and there. The conditions will be different this time, as will the personnel - of the 15 from 2024, only seven have been selected this time. Eight will be at their first World Cup in either format. With internationally all but unknown quantities like Jason Smith and Donovan Ferreira - and internationally all but unproven quantities like Dewald Brevis and Kwena Maphaka - in the mix, the squad doesn't seem as strong as others South Africa have sent off with hopes of winning a trophy.

That said, none of those other squads have won a World Cup. Maybe the magic, if there is any this time, will be in the fact that the class of 2026 won't be weighed down with the expectation to change that narrative.