Parnell called up for Newlands clash

Wayne Parnell will be called up for Friday evening's clash at Newlands against England in a bid to add some much needed variation.

The 20-year-old left arm seamer has recovered from an ankle injury and was in action for his club's cricket side in Port Elizabeth over the weekend to prove his fitness.

The Proteas are currently 0-1 behind in the five-match MTN one-day international series after their seven-wicket loss in Centurion on Sunday.

If a solution cannot be found in due time, they will struggle in much the same way on Friday evening.

Mickey Arthur, Proteas coach, said that he is looking for a bowling attack that packs a bigger punch.

"Charl Langeveldt is not entirely fit after his recovery on his shoulder injury and Dale (Steyn) is the only bowler that really packs a punch. Wayne will join us in Cape Town and we will then have a look at his fitness. He has bowled over the weekend and hopefully he will be ready to play".

The only question which remains is who will keep strike.

The two in question are Ryan Mclaren and Albie Morkel.

At this stage it looks as if Morkel's struggles with the ball will be the deciding factor.

Even though his batting is better than Mclaren's, the Free Stater impressed with the ball in the two Twenty20 internationals against England.

With the Proteas bowling being the problem at the moment, the brainstrust will probably stick with the best bowler out of the two.

It is surprising how quickly things change in limited overs cricket.

Six months ago - in the one-day series against Australia - the Proteas bowling attack swung the sceptre.

The gameplan back then with the two spinners, Johan Botha and Roelof van der Merwe, was to tie down the batsmen, and worked game after game against the Aussies.

England, however, had a counter to this plan and it is very apparent that the spinners are being targeted.

Arthur, however, thinks that Botha and Van der Merwe are not on the same level as they were when they played the Aussies.

"Yes, they will be targeted, but if they bowled as well as they did against the Aussies, then it will not be that easy to target them."

The coach also confirmed that Herschelle Gibbs, who replaces the injured Jacques Kallis, will be considered as the middle order option in the batting line-up.

"If everyone is goes according to plan, Graeme Smith and Jacques Kallis will be our openers.

"Hashim Amla will stand in for them if either of them is injured. Herschelle will serve as reserve to the middle order batsmen, JP Duminy and Alviro Petersen."