Exclusive: Dane Piedt frustrated with Test omission but told not to throw in the towel

Having been part of South Africa's last three Test series', off-spinner, Dane Piedt will miss the upcoming Sri Lanka series as coach Shukri Conrad has announced spin-bowling all-rounder Senuran Muthusamy as the second spinner behind Keshav Maharaj.

Piedt's Frustrations

Proteas Test coach, Shukri Conrad, announced his squad for the upcoming two-match series against Sri Lanka, a series that will mark the start of the South African Test summer.

Conrad has welcomed back fast bowlers Gerald Coetzee and Marco Jansen into his squad as the two quicks missed out on the series against the West Indies and Bangladesh due to their 12-week-long conditioning break.

The 57-year-old has omitted spinner Dane Piedt from the squad and has opted to give spin-bowling all-rounder Senuran Muthusamy an opportunity in the upcoming series.

Muthusamy did well in the second Test in Bangladesh last month, scoring a well-crafted 80-odd and taking a four-for to help South Africa win the match and the series.

On the other hand, Piedt did not have the best of series in Bangladesh as he returned figures of 1/114 in the first Test in Mirpur and went on to be dropped in the second Test match.

However, the 34-year-old has a phenomenal return to Test cricket this year with his five-for in New Zealand a highlight of his return.

In an exclusive interview with SportsBoom, Dane Piedt revealed that though selections do not affect him, it was frustrating to learn of his omission for the Sri Lanka series.

"They are obviously going with Muthusamy and you can't go against that. He had a really good Test match in the last Test. If you do well, you get your opportunity," Piedt told SportsBoom.com.

"It is a bit frustrating playing one Test here and another there and being left out. I didn't bowl the way I wanted to in Bangladesh.

"At the end of the day, selection is not in my hands, the coach likes to have extra batting in his team and you can't fault that. At the end of the day, I'm a lot closer to the end of my career than the start so I don't look too much into that.

"There are no hard feelings but it is frustrating playing the odd Test match here and there and not getting a full run. But Keshav is the guy in charge and he's going to the World Test championship which is the main goal."

Piedt's future in Test cricket

The off-spinner told SportsBoom that he was told not to throw in the towel yet.

"I got told not to throw in the towel yet," he said. "I am 34 years old, there's two subcontinent tours next year so let's see how the last part of my career pans out."

The squad will attend a red-ball camp at the centre of excellence in Pretoria from 21-22 November before flying out to Durban on Saturday 23 November where the first Test will be played on 27 November.

Proteas Test squad against Sri Lanka

Temba Bavuma (captain), David Bedingham, Gerald Coetzee, Tony de Zorzi, Marco Jansen, Keshav Maharaj, Aiden Markram, Wiaan Mulder, Senuran Muthusamy, Dane Paterson, Kagiso Rabada, Tristan Stubbs, Ryan Rickelton, and Kyle Verreynne.