Ottis Gibson asks World Cup hopefuls to make opportunities count

South Africa’s limited-overs international series against the visiting Zimbabwe side, starting on 30 September, will see a new-look team taking the field. Seniors like Faf du Plessis and Hashim Amla miss out through injury, while Quinton de Kock and David Miller have been rested.

Christiaan Jonker and Heinrich Klaasen continue to get a chances, while Dean Elgar, already established in the Test side, gets a shot in the one-day internationals.

Gibson said that by early 2019, when South Africa take on Sri Lanka, or even in the Pakistan series before that, he’d like a mostly settled squad with no more experimentation.

"Every person that gets an opportunity now will know that there will be less and less opportunities going forward, so you have to make every opportunity you get count at this stage," he said.

"We've looked at some guys, and this series and the next one, to my mind, are probably the last opportunities to see guys we've discussed but haven't had the opportunity to see yet.”

Explaining the selections, Gibson said, "What we've set out to do from the outset is to try have almost two players for every position."

On the Miller-Jonker swap, he added, “We know what David can do. He's not had a lot of runs recently, but this is a chance to see Christiaan in that position so we can then assess both of them and see which one we can take forward."

Elgar, he said, was a “like-for-like” replacement for Amla. “Again, you think about the World Cup, and this is thinking a little further ahead, and then you look at Dean's record for almost every county he's played for in England, then clearly he comes into the conversation.

“So, this gives us an opportunity to see Dean as a like-for-like replacement for Hash, and see how he goes. He's always made it clear that he's still keen on playing one-day international cricket, and this gives us an opportunity to see him in that position."

One of the more experienced hands in the squad is Dale Steyn, who is set to play his first ODI since October 2016, following long injury lay-offs. Gibson described him as a “natural mentor”, and still “one of the best two bowlers in the country” along with Kagiso Rabada.

"He's talking to the guys around the group, and to have his experience there, whether he plays or not, [is great]. There's nothing to say he'll play every game, but to have him in and around the dressing room and the nets passing on his experience can only be a good thing for the guys.

"He's someone who's still clearly very passionate about playing for his country, and we'll make an assessment on Dale in this series and the next against Australia, the next six games, and we'll see how we go forward from there."