Strydom in limbo as selectors deliberate

Pieter Strydom persistently refused to answer questions about his past, his present and his future this week and, while his caution is understandable, he is known to be "upset" about his apparent involvement in the Hansie Cronje scandal.

"He feels a little bit hurt that his name has been bandied about like it has," Reunert Bauser, Border cricket's general manager, said yesterday. "He's always claimed his innocence and he really doesn't know how his name has come to be associated with this."

Along with Herschelle Gibbs and Nicky Boje, Strydom's name has been linked to the scandal, and although he has continued to claim his innocence - this through intermediaries at Border cricket - Strydom is also known to be in limbo over where he will be playing his cricket in the coming months.

The Border captain was to have played for Rochdale in the Lancashire league this South African winter but when he was selected to go to India and Sharjah in February and March he cancelled his engagement, this in expectation that he might be touring Sri Lanka in July and August with the national side.

With the squad for Sri Lanka being announced on Monday, Strydom is still in the dark as to where he will be spending his winter; he is also uncertain as to whether he will be one of the players contracted by the United Cricket Board (UCB) for the coming two years, or if he will be included in the national selectors's plans on an ad hoc basis.

Strydom is not the only cricketer in South Africa facing uncertain times. Along with the national squad for Sri Lanka - national convenor of selectors, Rushdie Magiet, said he wasn't sure whether 15 or 16 would be announced - the South Africa A side to tour the Caribbean in August and September will also be announced on Monday from the UCB headquarters at the Wanderers.

"We're going to announce either 14 or 15 in the A side," said Magiet yesterday, "but preferably we'd like 15 to go to the West Indies."

The A side tour provides the perfect opportunity for the UCB to either groom players such as James Bryant and Justin Kemp or offer a glimpse of possible things to come for players such as Charl Langeveldt, Justin Ontong, Mfuneko Ngam, Robin Peterson and Garnett Kruger.

As for the side to do duty during three Tests and a possible five (if South Africa reach the final) one-day internationals in Sri Lanka, it will in all likelihood be business as usual, although matters could take on an entirely different complexion later in the year as the team investigating the allegations over the Cronje affair make their findings known.

Speculation aside, it will be interesting to see what the immediate future holds for David Terbrugge, Dale Benkenstein and Neil McKenzie. Both Terbrugge and Benkenstein have, for different reasons, lost ground in the past season while McKenzie, often so impressive on the domestic front, will presumably not make the transition to Test cricket just yet, not while Daryll Cullinan is so firmly in the frame.