Cricket Selection is often portrayed as a purely analytical process. The emphasis is on selecting players who are the quickest, strongest, or have the biggest impact through their power. But there are times when the data reveals an entirely different picture, one that shows conventional thought processes may be somewhat embarrassed by it. That is where Ottneil Baartman is currently situated within that paradox.
Herein lies the irony: South Africa’s number one wicket-taker from the SA20 (the winner of two competitions) was not chosen for South Africa’s 2024 T20 World Cup team, even though he is one of the key members of the squad, and holds a record that makes him the top wicket-taker in the history of the tournament, and broke the record by being the top wicket-taker in the SA20, after finishing as runner-up in the 2023 T20 World Cup in Barbados to India, since then he has only played 11 of his country’s 29 games heading into this year’s tournament.
Pressure Situations, Proven Results
As such, good T20 bowlers show their worth when games go off track. Baartman has demonstrated his ability to make an impact on the largest stages possible, three finals, two titles, and he did this again last week at Newlands, after Paarl Royals bowled out MI Cape Town to the lowest SA20 total ever made. The MI top order was struggling at 55/6 by the 11th over, when Baartman struck Nicholas Pooran with something that few can achieve with speed alone – effectively enough of a variation in his pace to turn a slog into a mis-hit slice. Although his figures of 2-8 in 2.4 overs were economical as well as decisive, there is a great deal more to a good selection than just taking wickets, or rather, when and how wickets are taken.
Selection Logic Versus Tactical Balance
Convenor Patrick Moroney suggested that the selection of the squad happened before the start of the SA20; therefore, it could not be influenced by the performance of players during the tournament. That is technically true. But that is strategically short-sighted. Because the process of selecting an eleven is not just about the players’ recent performances, but also about what the team currently does not have. And while South Africa has an attacking lineup that possesses great potential, at this time, South African cricket still does not have a bowler with the ability to disrupt the opposition as opposed to destroy them.
The Professional Response and the Unfinished Case
David Miller’s comments show how his omissions are also a human element: frustration, perseverance, and the usual caveat that injuries will replace players. Ottneil Baartman, as far as professionals can do so, has responded accordingly, and continued to play at Paarl Royals, a team low in the spotlight for bowling superstars but high in the number of leaders who lead from the front and mentor young players such as 19 year old Nqobani Mokoena; with this, they may be able to find an additional future player for South Africa.
Baartman’s value is his selfless, controlling, and tactically intelligent nature, which also makes him easily overlooked in a system that is still obsessed with speed guns.
South Africa has picked a bowling unit designed to be overwhelming, but what they may have given up in doing so was the quietly thinking bowler. The decision to leave Ottneil Baartman out is not a scandal; it is an experiment in philosophy. When South African cricket is rewarded with variety, when South African matches are won by just one ball of bad judgment, then Ottneil’s exclusion will be less about picking him and more about being tactically blind.
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