Gerald Coetzee Ruled Out Of Proteas Squad, Hours After Being Included, For Tri-nation Series Against Pakistan And New Zealand

Fast bowler Gerald Coetzee on Wednesday was included and later withdrawn in a complicated Proteas squad to do duty in the tri-nation One-Day International ODI series against hosts Pakistan and New Zealand starting on Saturday.

The squad is a bit difficult to understand though as it will start off with just a dozen players, before more are added later on Wednesday and then again at the end of the week.

There had been a massive injury cloud hanging over Coetzee after he was ruled out of the SA20 with a hamstring problem, after just one game with the Joburg Super Kings on January 14.

Coetzee was the likely replacement for Anrich Nortje for the Proteas Champions Trophy squad, which begin their campaign on February 21 against Afghanistan. Coetzee was first included in the tri-nations squad which was announced at 10am, before being withdrawn in a press release made at 2pm.

Evidently, Coetzee completed 10 overs in training in Pretoria on Wednesday, but experienced discomfort in the hamstring once more and was withdrawn from the squad as a precaution. Cricket SA said a replacement would be announced in due course.