Would the real SA20 please stand up? The tournament that has jolted - in the best way - a game that had dwindled to a dull and dreary dirge at anything below international level in South Africa would seem to be causing confusion in its fourth edition.

Here's Patrick Moroney, the convenor selector, while announcing the squad for the men's T20 World Cup on Friday, after nine games in this year's competition: "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 [Ryan] 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 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."

Here's Corbin Bosch, of Mumbai Indians Cape Town, on Sunday: "There's no better competition to get you ready for the World Cup. The players here are incredible from all teams. There's no easy fixture. Any team can beat any team on any given day.

"It's good to play against these guys because when it comes to World Cup time you're going to be playing the best of the best, so this definitely forces you to raise your level."

And here's Paarl Royals' David Miller, also on Sunday: "Everyone's getting put under pressure during this competition. It is a high level of competitiveness. So it is good preparation for the World Cup. There's going to be a lot of pressure over there with Indian crowds. There's also the heat factor.

"Nothing can match international standard, especially at a World Cup. But [the SA20] certainly goes a long way to getting us into the right space. The guys have put in some great games, and I think it will be a good gauge."

The selectors are correct in saying the SA20 came too early this year to influence their decisions. They are also within their rights to regard the tournament as not quite of international standard. There is no contradiction between what Moroney said as compared to Bosch and Miller - let no-one say Moroney argued the tournament wasn't useful preparation for the World Cup.

But cricketminded South Africans would be forgiven for wondering whether the selectors - Moroney and Shukri Conrad - are on the same page as the players. Especially around aspects of the squad.

Like the omission of Ryan Rickelton and Tristan Stubbs, and the inclusion of Tony de Zorzi and Jason Smith. That's what has raised the most noise, and maybe you need to be South African to understand why.

It's true that Rickelton scored the only century yet seen in the SA20, 113 off 63 for Cape Town against Durban's Super Giants at Newlands on December 26 - seven days before the World Cup squad was named. But it's just as true that that is his only score of more than 45 in his last dozen completed innings. Eight of those innings were in Asia, where the World Cup will be played in February and March.

Stubbs made 76 in a Test against Pakistan in Rawalpindi in October, and 49 and 94 in another against India in Guwahati in November. But in seven other completed innings across the formats in that time frame he has a top score of 37. On top of that, in his seven trips to the T20I crease last year he made 152 runs at the decidedly un-Stubbs strike rate of 121.60.

De Zorzi last played on December 3 - 35 days ago - when he injured a hamstring while batting in an ODI against India in Raipur. But, in the Tests against Pakistan, he scored 104 in Lahore and 55 in Rawalpindi. He also made 76 off 63 in an ODI against the Pakistanis in Faisalabad. That adds up to a decent argument for his selection, fitness permitting.

And then there's Smith, who would seem to have earned his place by dint of the unbeaten 68 he plundered off 19 - 62 of them in fours and sixes - against an attack comprised of Duan Jansen, Lizaad Williams, Donovan Ferreira, Roelof van der Merwe and Dayyaan Galiem in Centurion in November. He scored 58 two innings later, but off 41. Both innings were for KwaZulu-Natal Coastal in CSA's domestic T20 competition - which is of significantly lower quality than the SA20. So why has Smith been picked?

"I feel like I am quite a versatile player," Smith said in video released by Cape Town on Sunday. "I feel like I can bat anywhere from no. 3 to 7, so it's important to be flexible and adapt to any conditions or situation that I am faced with."

Closer to the truth is that this is South Africa. Rickelton and Stubbs are white. De Zorzi is black and Smith brown. For some, that matters more than any cricking argument.

Consider that no fuss has been made about the fact that Donovan Ferreira, who is white, has made the squad despite not having scored more than 29 in his last 15 innings in any format. Nor has the omission of Ottneil Baartman, bar social media support from Dale Steyn, generated much debate. Going into Tuesday's game between Cape Town and Joburg Super Kings at Newlands, Baartman was the leading wicket-taker in the history of the competition. And that despite having bowled fewer deliveries in the tournament than Marco Jansen, Kagiso Rabada and Lungi Ngidi, all of whom are in the squad. Baartman is brown.

When Bosch made his international debut in an ODI against Pakistan at the Wanderers in December 2024, he had scored two half-centuries - 59 and 69 - in his previous 23 innings regardless of format. He bowled 245.2 overs in the same matches and took 43 wickets - four in four innings, but never five. Those are not blinding numbers, but Bosch being given his chance wasn't questioned. Bosch is white.

When South Africa beat Australia by five wickets in the WTC final at Lord's in June last year, Rabada took 5/51 and 4/59, and Temba Bavuma scored a crucial 66, injured hamstring and all. Their blackness wasn't celebrated along with their success. But when Ngidi struggled in the first innings, when he went wicketless for 45 in eight overs, he was singled out for unfair criticism. When he redeemed himself by taking the key wickets of Steven Smith, Beau Webster and Pat Cummins, apologies were not forthcoming. It was as if, because he bowled well, Ngidi was no longer black.

Twas ever thus in South Africa. When black and brown players perform well, they are merely cricketers and their brownness and blackness is forgotten. When they don't succeed, they become brown and black again.

Nevermind the real SA20, would the real intentions of too many cricketminded South Africans please stand up to be counted?