Why Richard was sent home....

South Africa's latest cricketing talent is once again an opening batsmen without fear and possesses flamboyant flare. He is also described as SA's next Herschelle Gibbs.... with the bat that is :) Richard Levi, another successful product from the Cape Cobras franchise made his first class debut for Border against his current franchise, Western Province in 2006. The 24 year old Johannesburg native was pretty much knocking on the door in the last 5 years to no avail. This was due to the success of various opening pairs such as Amla/ Smith, Smith/ Kallis, Smith/ de Villiers and even Alviro Petersen had an opportunity to bat with the former SA captain. Smith's place is more questionable now in the Twenty 20 arena than it is in the remaining arenas, making our former Captain somewhat of a liability. This has subsequently opened a door for the young Cape Cobras opening batsman and led to his first appearance for South Africa during their concurrent tour of New Zealand. Levi made his international debut in Auckland against a slightly more aggressive New Zealand bowling attack after being under Allan Donald's tutelage. Levi unfortunately scored a brisk 11 on debut, but managed to score 2 boundaries in that knock. Fortunately another opportunity was afforded to Levi in the next match at Hamilton where he scored 117 of 51 balls amassing 13 sixes in the process (the most by any batsmen in the international T20 circuit). A few days later, Richard, after hitting 2 boundaries was caught in the deep for 13. He flew back to Cape Town the very next day. Some question Gary Kirsten's decision to send him back. I on the other hand agree with the Proteas coach in his decision. By keeping Levi in the ODI series, the Proteas risk exposing him to all of the forthcoming T20 competitors. This will inadvertently give them an opportunity to work him out and figure out ways to dismiss Levi early. South Africa is doing exactly the same thing they did with Imran Tahir last year prior to the World Cup in India. Here, they strategically did not expose him to the series prior to the WC. India had no idea who this bowler was and it certainly paid dividends in some respect. With Levi gaining much from his experience in New Zealand, this will allow him to work on more innovative shots during the MiWay Pro 20 tournament. He is more than guaranteed a place in the forthcoming T20 tournament and I'm certain with Richard Levi in the fold.... South Africa will be unstoppable.