October 12 Saturday 2002
Rhodes calls for selection consistency

JOHANNESBURG: South African batsman Jonty Rhodes believes consistency in selection is the key to the team's chances of winning the World Cup on home soil next year.

He believes too many changes have been made in the last couple of years, resulting in a fear of failure among some of the players. South Africa were thrashed 6-1 by Australia in a home one-day series earlier this year. They were subsequently beaten by Sri Lanka in the final of the inaugural Morocco Cup and threw away a golden chance of 
victory over India in the ICC Champions Trophy semifinals.

"A few years ago we had the attitude that regardless of whom we played on the day, we were going to win the match," Rhodes wrote on his official website. "Now this may sound like arrogance, but we took the field in a very positive frame of mind, and under Hansie's (Cronje) captaincy we had a success rate bordering on 80 per cent in the ODIs.

"It was apparent in those games that we handled the pressure situations far better than we have during the last two seasons." Rhodes acknowledged that some of the changes had been forced on the selectors because of injuries.

He praised Cronje's successor, Shaun Pollock, and new coach Eric Simons for their work to reinvigorate the team. 

But he added: "If you had to look back on how the team members have been chopped and changed over the last season or two, and even the last tour, I believe this does not do much for an individual's, or the team's, confidence."

Rhodes has been a regular of the South African team since their return to international cricket in 1991, scoring more than 5,700 runs in 234 one-day appearances.