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Morkel wants to be back for Proteas at Champions Trophy

Proteas fast bowler Morne Morkel has not given up hope of playing for South Africa at the ICC Champions Trophy in England and Wales in June.

Morkel‚ who has fully recovered from a back injury that ruled him out of a number of the Proteas' recent outgoing and incoming tours‚ will feature for the Titans in the Momentum One Day Cup opener against the Dolphins on Friday at SuperSport Park.

Speaking on Tuesday as the Centurion-based side prepared for the visit by the Dolphins‚ Morkel said he will use the three matches he is going to play for the Titans in the tournament to get back to full fitness.

“Definitely‚ that’s the goal for me to play in the Champions Trophy. Luckily‚ I have time on my hands because there is still a lot of cricket to be played between now and then. It will be nice to put in a couple of quality performances and put my name in the hat for that‚” he said.

The other senior Proteas fast bowler who has been troubled by injuries in recent months is Dale Steyn and whether he will be ready for the Champions Trophy remains depends on how he recovers from his shoulder injury.

“I am going to play in the next three Momemtum One Day Cup matches and see how it goes‚ it will be wrong of me to put any goals of what I want to achieve. I just want to go out there on the field and do what I enjoy the most which is bowling and find my feet again without any high expectations‚” added Morkel.

For a place in the Champions Trophy team‚ Morkel faces stiff competition from Wayne Parnell‚ Andile Phehlukwayo‚ Dwaine Pretorius and Dane Peterson who are with the Proteas for the five-match ODI side against New Zealand.

Parnell‚ Phehlukwayo and Pretorius have responded with varying levels of success for the Proteas in recent months after they were given opportunities to prove themselves in the absence of senior players like Vernon Philander‚ Morkel and Steyn.

Selectors also have hugely experienced paceman Philander to call upon for the tournament in England and Wales even though he last played an ODI against New Zealand in Potchefstroom almost two years ago.

- TMG Digital/TMG Sport

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