Hudson confident of South Africa success

Hudson made the remark after Cricket South Africa (CSA) confirmed his appointment as it announced a new format for the panel of selectors.

The former panel was sacked in January this year after a slump in South Africa’s results.
Captain Graeme Smith and coach Corrie van Zyl are part of the selection panel in the new format, with the last member being the national performance manager, the post held by Van Zyl before he was named the new coach. Shafiek Abrahams is acting in the position until Van Zyl’s replacement is found.

Former opener Hudson has been the chairman of CSA’s cricket committee for several years now, leaving him well-informed on the strategic issues related to the national side.
Hudson said the first task of the new committee would be to select the group for the series against Pakistan, although there is still uncertainty about where this will be played because of security concerns in Pakistan.

“I will meet with Graeme( Smith) and Corrie (van Zyl) when they return from the West Indies and we will then decide our structural processes and modus operandi,” Hudson told the Afrikaans daily Beeld.
CSA also announced that former captain Kepler Wessels has not been retained as a selector, but will continue as batting consultant to the Proteas.

Samuels to complete ban
West Indies batsman Marlon Samuels feels he was made a “scapegoat” by the International Cricket Council (ICC) as he nears completion of a two-year ban for leaking team information to a bookie.

In three days, Samuels will complete his ban from international cricket, and he maintains he did nothing wrong. “I am an honest person. My conscience would not allow me to come back if I knew within myself I had done something wrong,” Samuels was quoted as saying in Sydney Morning Herald.
“They (ICC) need to spend time on situations like this, it is delicate and very important because you are dealing with players’ careers. “When they looked at my case, they used me as a scapegoat, the ICC wanted to make an example out of me.”
Agencies