"Story taken completely out of context" - Mike Horn

The controversy surrounding Vernon Philander’s selection doesn’t seem to die down

Proteas High Performance coach, Mike Horn has clarified the comments he made to the media a couple of days regarding the ‘political interference’ in the South African team selection for the semi-final against New Zealand in the recently concluded World Cup.

“First of all I apologise for this controversy. If this event would hurt the feelings of the management team and the players, it was not my intention and I sincerely apologize. The story has been taken completely out of context, it’s a load of hot air but I guess this is what the press like and feed on,” Horn said in his letter.

“I confirm what I said in the sound bytes and the written articles, but the way it was written was not my sense of what had happened but the interpretation of someone else. I must say I am disappointed at the way my comments were portrayed and a part of me feels let down by the negativity these reports have caused,” he concluded.

CSA confirms selection quota

Meanwhile, the South African Cricket board has confirmed that there is a guideline where four players of colour should be present in the playing XI. An internal review was conducted by three board members to look into Philander’s selection into the team for the crunch clash and the coach Russell Domingo admitted that he was aware of the guidelines and Vernon’s selection was purely based on the fact that he was passed fit and was also their first choice bowler in New Zealand conditions.

"Hudson and Domingo explained their understanding of the guidelines and confirmed that there were many occasions when more than four players of colour were selected. On the rare occasion that three players were selected, this was due to exceptional circumstances such as injury," CSA’s release said.