South Africa call up young fast bowler De Lange

Johannesburg: Marchant de Lange, a 21-year-old fast bowler, was named in South Africa`s 13-man squad for the first Test against Sri Lanka at Centurion from December 15.

Batsman Alviro Petersen and De Lange were yesterday added to the 11 who shared the honours in a two-match series against Australia last month. De Lange, from citrus farming town Tzaneen north of Pretoria, has played in only 14 first-class matches but impressed with his ability to generate pace of 145kmh-plus from a relatively short run-up. He took five for 56 for South Africa A against the Australians on a bowler-friendly pitch in Potchefstroom before the Test series. It seems unlikely that De Lange will be in the final team, however, as he is recovering from a thumb injury which ruled him out of selection for a South African Invitation XI that plays the Sri Lankans in a three-day match starting Friday in Benoni. His fitness will be assessed before the Test but convener of selectors Andrew Hudson said he wanted De Lange to be brought into the national team set-up. Petersen`s chances of playing will depend on the fitness of Hashim Amla, who has not played since suffering an injury to his left forearm while batting in the second Test against Australia. Although the selectors resisted calls from former captain Kepler Wessels and former selector Hugh Page to experiment against what is perceived as a weak Sri Lankan team, the squad was named for one Test only. This creates the possibility that there could be changes for the second and third Tests to be played over the Christmas and New Year period. South African Test squad: Graeme Smith (capt), AB de Villiers (vice-capt), Jacques Rudolph, Hashim Amla, Jacques Kallis, Ashwell Prince, Mark Boucher (wkt), Vernon Philander, Dale Steyn, Morne Morkel, Imran Tahir, Alviro Petersen, Marchant de Lange. South African Invitation XI: Thami Tsolekile (capt, wkt), Temba Bavuma, Farhaan Behardien, Dean Elgar, Paul Harris, Reeza Hendricks, Pumelela Matshikwe, Rilee Rossouw, Stiaan van Zyl, Hardus Viljoen, David Wiese. Bureau Report