Ntini's selection for Test 'not guaranteed'

By Jermaine Craig

The United Cricket Board emphatically denies it has a policy whereby a black African "must" take the field for the South African team.

With Makhaya Ntini not in the best of form of late, there has been speculation that the government insisted a black African must be in the side and that Ntini therefore could not be dropped.

UCB chief executive Gerald Majola was adamant this was not the case. "There has never been any government interference in our selections. It is not our policy that a black African must be in the team and we have not even discussed that," he said on Friday.

"What we are saying is that we can never ever again have an all-white team. Besides, Makhaya is the only black African on tour, so does that mean he must play in all the games?"

Majola said that with Herschelle Gibbs in the side, he would not have a problem with Ntini being dropped.

"But Makhaya's not out of form," he added. "He's not bowled well on occasion, but in our last match in Centurion I thought he was our best bowler. Nobody mentions that.

"He was the player of the year last season and we haven't had many games since. Everyone goes through dips - Lance Klusener had one for a full season, but we allowed that.

"We know the potential of our players and allow them to get back into form," said Majola, who added that the government was aware of the UCB's selection policies and was regularly consulted about them.