South Africa captain Temba Bavuma has attributed David Miller’s exclusion from the ODI leg of the England tour to the series’ clash with the Hundred, which the middle-order batter was part of. Miller, who accepted a hybrid contract with Cricket South Africa (CSA) earlier this year, has not played any international game for South Africa since featuring in the semi-final of the Champions Trophy.
Bavuma confirmed Miller is still ‘within the mix’ for selection in the upcoming ODI series as well as the 2027 ODI World Cup, which South Africa will co-host with Namibia and Zimbabwe. The 36-year-old batter has been active in franchise cricket ever since he relinquished a full CSA contract, having played in the SA20 at the start of the year and later the IPL, before joining the Northern Superchargers’ squad for the Hundred.
Miller’s last game for the Superchargers was on Saturday, three days before the series against England began. While many English players were part of the Hundred’s semi-final and final on the weekend, reaching Headingley only hours before the game, Bavuma said Miller was not expected to be part of the build-up to the ODI series, which effectively made him unavailable for selection.
“What I understand is that those communications were done during his contract times, in terms of him being available during this period for the Hundred,” Bavuma said. “Essentially, he wasn’t available for selection — but I stand by the correction around that… David’s still within the mix in the ODI stuff, if that answers your question.
“The Australia tour would’ve coincided with the Hundred. I guess any international commitments that occurred during the Hundred, David wasn’t available for. Unfortunately, the one-day [series] it clashes with: he wasn’t part of our build-up. But then with the T20 stuff, the Hundred is done, he’ll fall back into the team.”
South Africa are reconstructing their ODI side ahead of the World Cup, having already introduced several new faces. David Miller will be 38 by the time the World Cup begins, but his tremendous record in the format still keeps him central to the team’s plans. Add to that the fact that South Africa need to replace another middle-order heavyweight, Heinrich Klaasen, who retired from international cricket in June this year.
Bavuma said the team’s aim from this series is to continue focusing on the rebuilding process, for success in England as well as for the World Cup.
“That’s the bigger picture… But we’d like to bring ourselves back to here and what we need to do to be successful in England.”
South Africa squad for England ODIs
Temba Bavuma (capt), Corbin Bosch, Matthew Breetzke, Dewald Brevis, Nandre Burger, Tony de Zorzi, Keshav Maharaj, Kwena Maphaka, Aiden Markram, Wiaan Mulder, Senuran Muthusamy, Lungi Ngidi, Lhuan-dre Pretorius, Kagiso Rabada, Ryan Rickelton, Tristan Stubbs
South Africa squad for England T20Is
Aiden Markram (capt), Corbin Bosch, Dewald Brevis, Donovan Ferreira, Marco Jansen, Keshav Maharaj, Kwena Maphaka, David Miller, Senuran Muthusamy, Lungi Ngidi, Lhuan-dre Pretorius, Kagiso Rabada, Ryan Rickelton, Tristan Stubbs, Lizaad Williams
