Cricket South Africa in line for new selection chief

Cricket South Africa selection convenor Andrew Hudson

Johannesburg, April 14 (IANS) Cricket South Africa (CSA) is all set for a new convenor of selectors next month, with Andrew Hudson likely to be replaced in the top job.

The contracts of all four panel members - Hudson, Shafiek Abrahams, Hussein Manack and Linda Zondi - came to an end after the 2015 World Cup and Hudson is unlikely to be retained after five years in the job, reports ESPNcricinfo.

Although there is no clear indication of who will replace Hudson, one franchise confirmed that Ashwell Prince is among the candidates standing for election to the panel and that it will vote for him.

Nominations to the panel, which will be elected on the vote of South Africa's provincial presidents, close on April 30.

Prince retired from all cricket in March but may yet return for Lancashire this season and, if appointed, could be the person on the panel with the most international experience. He played 66 Tests for South Africa, 52 One-Day International (ODI) and a Twenty20 between 2002 and 2011.

Abrahams, who has been tipped to keep his job, appeared in just a single ODI while Manack and Zondi featured in first-class cricket - all are likely to keep their positions.

Hudson is, therefore, expected to be the only casualty of the current panel, and there are conflicting reasons believed to be behind his departure.

"Andrew has been there a long time and he is speaking about the time he needs for his job and his young family. It seems the time is right for change," ESPNcricinfo quoted an CSA insider as saying on Tuesday.

Another believed that the current convenor may be pushed out as part of the ongoing agenda towards aggressive transformation.

"They need someone who is a little more active in transformation and he isn't driving that."

CSA recently reaffirmed a commitment to transformation with increased quotas at the domestic level. Franchise teams will be required to field at least six players of colour, of which three must be black Africans, but there remains no official quota at international level.