Parnell travesty

Wayne Parnell not playing in the first test against England at Centurion Park is an absolute travesty of justice and in my opinion a really short-sighted decision that the SA management will regret.

We are going into this test match with three right arm seamers (Steyn, Ntini and presumably Morne Morkel) and we have Paul Harris holding up one end as a spinner.

South Africa are almost certainly going to be without Jacques Kallis from a bowling perspective and we have battled to take 20 wickets in a test match for a while.

Despite this we choose not to include the left-arm seamer who has been a brilliant addition to our ODI setup over the last 12 months? Bizarre...

For sure Steyn is still the premier fast bowler in the side and Ntini has 99 caps to his name but if you have to toss-up Morkel vs Parnell on current form and what they bring to the side, you'd be hard pushed to say that Parnell deserves to draw the short-straw.

There are plenty of reasons not to rush a young fast bowler and not put too much pressure on him, but Parnell has proven he has what it takes to play at international level and by not including him we have robbed ourselves of some much needed variety in our attack.

In Paul Harris you have a great spinner who can plug up one end so you won't have a case where a young fast bowler is going to be toiling for hours on end in the sun and taking its toll on his body. But you lose some of your effectiveness if you are going to tie up one end and then charge in with three right-arm quicks for two and a half days.

Don't get me wrong, I am a big Morne Morkel fan and think he has plenty to offer SA cricket, I am just concerned that the balance of the side is not exactly there if he is given preference over Parnell.