 De Wet made his Test debut in the first Test against England in December |
South Africa fast bowler Friedel de Wet has been withdrawn from Thursday's fourth and final Test against England because of a back injury. The 29-year-old suffered a recurrence of a back problem in last week's drawn Test against England in Cape Town. He is likely to be replaced by uncapped left-armer Wayne Parnell, 20, for the series finale which starts at the Wanderers in Johannesburg on Thursday. Parnell has played in nine one-dayers but has yet to make his Test debut. De Wet marked his Test debut by taking 4-55 in the first match of the series at Centurion, only to be left out for the second before being recalled in Cape Town. But South Africa coach Mickey Arthur revealed de Wet's injury was a long-term problem, saying: "Friedel won't be training with us this week. "I really feel for him, it happened in the fifth over of the first innings in Cape Town, but he came in and gave it his all with injections and a serious back injury for another 20-odd overs. It speaks volumes for him." Arthur described Parnell as a "huge talent" and added: "He has a real chance of playing because of his pace. We said we wanted three strike bowlers and Wayne could be one of them.  | OLIVER BRETT'S BLOG |
"Although he's very young in terms of first-class cricket, he will mature and I'm very happy to have him on board." South Africa had already withdrawn Imran Tahir from their squad for the final Test amid fears he is not yet eligible to play. The former Pakistan A leg-spinner, who is married to a South African, was called up on Friday but the 30-year-old's permanent residence papers have not yet come through so he will have to sit out. "Cricket South Africa would rather be absolutely certain of his eligibility before playing him," said a spokesman. "We have to be 100% certain before putting him in a national squad." Tahir, who has also represented English county sides Hampshire, Middlesex and Yorkshire over recent years and will play for Warwickshire next summer, now hopes to make the squad for next month's tour to India. His absence in Johannesburg has eased the pressure on slow left-armer Paul Harris, whose 11 wickets in the series so far have cost 40 runs each. But South Africa are ready to field an all-seam attack if conditions seem to dictate that course of action. "If you're looking for a result like we are, then a grassy pitch is a gamble you possibly have to take. But I don't like going into a Test without a spinner," said Arthur. "I think it's vital, but if conditions are very different then we could look at it, it's possible that we could go in with an all-pace attack."
South Africa squad:
GC Smith (captain), HM Amla, MV Boucher (wkt), AB de Villiers, JP Duminy, PL Harris, JH Kallis, R McLaren, M Morkel, WD Parnell, AN Petersen, AG Prince, DW Steyn.
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