CRICKET NEWS - AB de Villiers, Dale Steyn and Chris Morris will move closer to their Test returns when they play for the South African Invitation XI against Zimbabwe in a three-day warm-up match in Paarl ahead of the Boxing Day Test. Temba Bavuma is the other Test player included in the squad for the practice match ahead of an eight-Test home summer.
South Africa play Zimbabwe in the inaugural four-day day-night Test starting Boxing Day, followed by three Tests against India before six ODIs and three T20s, and then four Tests against Australia in March. De Villiers and Steyn's participation in those matches will be of particular interest, not least because of the amount of time for which the pair has been absent.
De Villiers has not played a Test since January 2016 with his absence a combination of an injury layoff, that kept him out of series against New Zealand and Australia, and a self-imposed sabbatical that sidelined him from most of this year, during which South Africa have already played Sri Lanka, New Zealand, England and Bangladesh. While de Villiers remained available for limited-overs matches, he stepped down as ODI captain in August and has now recommitted himself to playing for South Africa across all formats, while limiting his participation in 20-over leagues.
He has only played one first-class match - for his franchise Titans - since he reaffirmed his international goals, but has recent good form on his side. De Villiers scored a career-best ODI score of 176 against Bangladesh in Paarl in his first bat of the home summer and has been scoring important, quick runs for Titans in their ongoing Ram Slam campaign.
Despite those runs, de Villiers said he is prepared to work for his place in the Test team and re-enters the space with an understanding that South Africa's line-up may not have space for him immediately. Four of the top five in the line-up scored centuries in South Africa's most recent outing against Bangladesh with Bavuma the odd one out, but that may not mean a straight swap for the Zimbabwe match. Bavuma was recently promoted to de Villiers' No. 4 role and has often dug South Africa out of tough situations and the selectors seem to want to keep him around. Bavuma will also play the warm-up match against Zimbabwe, knowing the man who may replace him in the Test team is right beside him.
