Tsotsobe's done nothing to warrant being dropped. de Wet's probably fourth behind him, but they want to groom Parnell for the future.
Well firstly i wasn't talking about the future, i was referring to the past - the recent past with regards to recent IND vs SA test in SA, where Tsotsobe was clearly a quota selection over De Wet, who was playing FC in SA at the time of that test series & who had impressed immensely in his debut series vs ENG 09/10 before injuries ruled him out of the majority of 2010. Compared to Tsotosobe who had done nothing of note in SA tests vs WI 2010 to warrant selection or the consistent selection that he got throughtout that year over other coloured players. His selection & backing was 100% quota & due to the fact that they wanted a black player to directly replace Ntini. The only S African poster on this site
stefan was ranting about this throughout the IND vs SA test series thread, so whether you believe it or not - is a bit irrelevant at this late stage.
Tsotsobe ATM may have indeed not have done anything to be dropped given how respectably he ended up bowling vs IND (Or as i would put it - the "politico's" have a reason to force to selectors to keep him in). A series in which i'd say the IND batsmen IMO gave away alot of wickets to him due to them not rating him after having survived testing spells from Steyn/Morkel - thus he ended up getting a few cheap wickets. Overall
7 wickets @ 48 is no series return for any bowler as you suggested
"has done nothing to be dropped" - that is very poor. Such struggles performances should mean by the time SA next test series comes around if merit selection is the name of the game De Wet or McLaren should be ahead of him. Both De Wet & Tsotsobe are playing county cricket right now (De Wet in the high standard division 1 & Tsotsobe in the low standard div 2). A top-class season for De Wet could certainly bring him back into contention for SA next test series vs Australia in September for eg.
But i personally expect LT to get exposed sooner rather than later, since he wont be the first average bowler in test history who is crap to have had decent days in the sun - then eventually top standard players to expose his deficiencies.
Plus even Ryan McLaren is better bowler than Tsotsobe & gives SA a better all-round backage with his batting @ # 8. Since SA technically do have a long tail with Steyn, Morkel, Tahir (Harris before).
Your point with "grooming of Parnell for the future" also doesn't make any sense. Which team in their right mind would want to groom a young bowler by playing him in tests, who isn't a finished article ,over a already complete season performer (De Wet or McClaren). That is not smart selection & usually selectors end up with egg on their faces.
Although it could be done since i reckon if Steyn/Morkel/Tahir bowl as i expect them to. They could dominate most international batting line-ups they way McGrath/Gillespie/Warne did for AUS in the 2000s & they could probably carry Parnell in such an attack the same way AUS carried Lee for years. But its not a necessary tactic since they have better finished article bowlers.
Tsotosbe is not even the best black/coloured fast-bowler in S Africa. These two are better than him IMO
Craig Alexander &
E O'Reilly
(the crazy things that happen in cricket these days).
