Awkward confusion as selectors stay vague over prolific Rickelton's Proteas' absence

Confusion lingers over Ryan Rickelton's current eligibility for the Proteas after he was overlooked for the short but all-important three-match ODI series against England starting next week.

The prolific left-hander was surprisingly left out of the Test squad for the tour to Australia back in December after Cricket South Africa's medical staff ruled his longstanding ankle ligament injury rendered him too much of a risk, ostensibly in terms of the logistics of flying out a replacement should he not have been able to play.

That, however, was at odds with the Lions' assessment, who were more than comfortable selecting him to play domestically after Rickelton opted to manage the injury through a cocktail of platelet and cortisone injections as well as regular rehab exercises.

He did so to avoid an operation that would sideline him for at least two months, meaning he'd miss the SA20 and the meat of the local international season.

It's understood he plans to go under the knife later in the year.

Meanwhile, Rickelton continued to relentlessly pile up the runs, scoring two centuries in the 4-Day Series and then ending the One-Day Cup as the leading run-scorer with 452 runs at an average of 65 and a strike rate of 103.

Given that he shows no signs of discomfort, the situation has now become a tad awkward.

Victor Mpitsang, CSA's convener of selectors, conceded that Rickelton's medical status is no longer a stumbling block and that his latest omission is down to limited spots in the squad.    

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"Look, Ryan has performed really well this summer to date. He's been performing particularly well in the past few weeks. The question we've had to ask