Ngidi dropped: Shukri ushers in new Proteas era with bold but clear calls

New Proteas Test coach Shukri Conrad is clearly not going to be a man wary of making tough selection calls.

The 55-year-old mentor on Friday laid a huge marker in that regard by dropping Lungi Ngidi - until now a fixture in the South African attack in all formats - for the gifted but raw Gerald Coetzee.

Hailed as a prodigy after lighting up the national Under-19 team of 2018 as a 17-year-old, the Knights quick went on tour to Australia with the national squad at the end of the year and promptly used that experience to finish with 17 wickets in the SA20, the second most in the tournament.

With Conrad having worked extensively with Coetzee at youth level too, that haul of scalps was more than enough to convince him that Kagiso Rabada and Anrich Nortje should have a new teammate completing the pace triumvirate.

"It's quite simple for me. I believe Gerald Coetzee needs a good run," said the Proteas mentor.

"We're all aware of his promise and he holds. Now's as good a time as ever to to unleash him, for want of a better expression.Without giving too much away, I'd like to believe I'll be in a position to play all our quicks in Centurion and depending on what the Wanderers conjures up, that starting XI might change.

"It's purely Gerald ahead of Lungi for me right now. That's why I've gone for him."

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Another bold call is the omission of Kyle Verreynne, who's actually a fluent stroke-maker and emerged with credit from a nightmarish Aussie trip for the team by scoring the second most runs for South Africa in the series behind Temba Bavuma.

Again, however, Conrad communicated clearly to all involved that he prefers Heinrich Klaasen, a batter