Rickelton starting last Test, more changes possible, says Elgar

Johannesburg — Ryan Rickelton will replace his provincial teammate Rassie van der Dussen in the Proteas team for the third Test against England at The Oval, skipper Dean Elgar confirmed on Wednesday.

Elgar said there may be one or two more changes to the side that lost the second Test by an innings and 85 runs at Old Trafford nearly two weeks ago, but refused to outline what those are.

“Ryan Rickelton is the batter who comes in. He’s had a decent stint in the UK, having played a bit of County cricket. It’s his time to shine hopefully.”

Van der Dussen broke his index finger while fielding at Old Trafford, and has returned to South Africa and undergone surgery. On Tuesday, when announcing the T20 World Cup squad, with Van der Dussen not included, selection convenor, Victor Mpitsang, said the injury will require at least six weeks to heal.

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The 26-year-old Rickelton, who played two Tests against Bangladesh in April, has scored 539 runs for Northamptonshire in eight innings, passing fifty six times and turning two of those efforts into centuries.

It’s a run of form that really started in the 2020/21 season for the Central Gauteng Lions, continued into Zimbabwe for the SA ‘A’ side, then onto last summer when he averaged 82.83 in the Four-Day series.

That form was ignored in the first two Tests of the current series with the selectors backing Van der Dussen and Aiden Markram’s experience. “Yeah good luck to Ricks,” Elgar added

“A lot of tough decisions have been made and there’s maybe one or two extra changes that we will enforce for the Test. But I’m extremely confident in all the guys that will be given the opportunity.”

The other likely change will see the return of Marco Jansen to the starting line-up in place of Simon Harmer. Jansen’s omission from the second Test was a contentious decision with South Africa, believing the dry surface there would work in their favour. Unfortunately they didn’t bat well enough to see that selection decision bear fruit.

“It’s been tough up front (for batting),” Elgar said. “Getting through the new ball is always a challenge in the UK. I understand how much top order runs mean to a team to set up a chance of victory. It’s been a bit of a frustration, but it is something we’ve worked on hard.

“We’ve spoken at length about this topic, and now it's time to walk the walk."

The third Test starts at noon (SA time) on Thursday.

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