'I'll fight to get back on top'
Source: News 24 - Herbert Pretorius - 25/07/2002

Cape Town - The announcement of the South African cricket squad for next month's triangular one-day series in Morocco came as a big shock to Neil McKenzie. The 26-year old middle order batsman was left out of the squad that will take on Sri Lanka and Pakistan in Tangiers.

The omission of McKenzie was the only surprise in the first touring squad assembled by the new national selectors under Omar Henry.

According to McKenzie his omission came as a shock to him. "I recently had great holiday in Spain and worked hard over the past three weeks to be physically and mentally sharp for the Moroccan tournament. I was really looking forward to getting some runs on the board again, but now I'll just have to wait a bit longer," he said.

McKenzie was careful when he spoke about the possible reasons why he was not included in the squad. He did say that Henry informed him of the decision before the squad was announced. "I don't know what I may or may not say. I guess the selectors have their own ideas about certain players and the composition of the team.

"It is no use for me to brood about it. I should see it as a temporary setback and regain my focus for the coming season. One thing is certain. If I don't play for South Africa I'm unhappy so I'll fight to get back on top. "

In some circles it is said that McKenzie's vulnerability against spin bowling was the reason that he was left out of the squad. Especially in view of the fact that the Moroccan pitches are expected to take a lot of spin and that Pakistan and Sri Lanka have world class spinners (Saqlain Mushtaq and Muttiah Muralitharan) in their teams.

However, McKenzie does not think this theory holds any water. "I got my century in Port Elizabeth against Muralitharan and company and also scored 80 runs off Shane Warne. I don't think my play of spin is suspect any longer."

The Northerns player boasts a batting average of 36.12 from 47 international one-day games and scored 195 runs in five innings against Sri Lanka at an average of 48.75 per innings.

Boeta Dippenaar or Justin Ontong is likely to take his place in the middle order. Dippenaar already took over from McKenzie earlier this year in the VB Series against Australia and New Zealand.

Squad for Morocco: Shaun Pollock (c), Paul Adams, Nicky Bojé, Mark Boucher, Boeta Dippenaar, Allan Donald, Herschelle Gibbs, Jacques Kallis, Gary Kirsten, Lance Klusener, Makhaya Ntini, Justin Ontong, Jonty Rhodes, Graeme Smith, Roger Telemachus.