CSA convenor of selectors Patrick Moroney has denied claims by Ottneil Baartman that he was not informed of his omission from South Africa’s squad for the T20 World Cup.

Speaking during the recently concluded SA20, the Paarl Royals and Proteas fast bowler told reporters that he had received no communication before or after the World Cup squad was announced earlier this month.

The comments sparked widespread debate, particularly on social media, where former Proteas fast bowler Dale Steyn questioned Baartman’s exclusion. Steyn suggested Baartman had consistently proven himself to be among the country’s best performers in the shortest format.

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Baartman ended the SA20 season as the leading wicket-taker, claiming the Purple Cap for the second time in the competition.

However, Moroney told SportsBoom.co.za that Baartman was informed of his position well before the squad announcement.

“Ottneil, I have spoken to him. I mean, I did phone him. I did speak to him,” Moroney said. “So how and why he said that to the media, you maybe need to find out from him, not from me. But that he was spoken to is definitely a fact.

“Unfortunately, in the make-up of a side, there’s no space for [Lungi] Ngidi and Baartman. They bowl more or less the same kind of pace and have the same variations.

“So you had to pick a player, and Ottneil was made very aware in the conversation that we had on 1 January that he’s part of the backup list and that he will be monitored. If the need arises, then we will push his button if need be.

“So it’s very, very clear. I don’t know why we still have to rehash this continuously. This has been cleared up. He knows that, for us, the situation never changed. As I said, you maybe ask him why he said he was never spoken to. And in my words, ‘never spoken to’ means he never had a phone call – and that is not true.”

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The World Cup squad was announced on 2 January, around a week into the SA20, a timing that drew criticism from those who felt the tournament could have been used to assess form and readiness.

Moroney said the selectors were working to a firm deadline.

“We needed to submit the team to the ICC on the 1st, and the team that we selected was not going to change,” he said. “So why have a whole squad in doubt throughout the whole SA20 if you knew what your squad was going to be?

“The last thing you want during an SA20 is a knee-jerk reaction every time somebody performs.

“With players knowing exactly where they stand, we were able to monitor them throughout the SA20 from a physical, emotional and performance point of view, which is ideally what we wanted.

“Some teams chose to announce their squads well before the deadline, and some waited until the last minute. Our squad was selected and it wasn’t going to change. Unfortunately, injuries did have an impact, but prior to the SA20 we already had our standby list.

“The players knew who was on that list, and we executed accordingly.”

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