Rhodes tipped to take big leap

South Africa’s inspirational player Jonty Rhodes may be appointed captain of the one-day team to represent the country in the World Cup tournament next year. New selection panel convenor, Omar Henry, said in an interview today that he had expressed the view that Rhodes was the right man for the job when he was a cricket commentator and he had no reason to change his views now.

“It’s the view I expressed before I was appointed convenor and I am not going to change my mind overnight,” he said. Since Rhodes is playing in ODIs and has retired from Test cricket, his appointment could mean dual captaincy for the South African team. But Henry said the immediate target was the World Cup and other issues could be considered after that.

“Our whole focus must be the World Cup. Everything we do between now and then must have that as the goal. We can look at a longer-term focus after that.”