SOUTH AFRICAN paceman Kyle Abbott could see his New Road spell cut short if he is selected by the Proteas for their upcoming series.
Worcestershire Director of Cricket Steve Rhodes admitted the length of the 29-year-old’s stay hinged on the South African selectors.
Abbott made his first class debut for the county in the Specsavers County Championship triumph over Leicestershire at New Road, either side of playing in the NatWest T20 Blast matches against Derbyshire and Lancashire.
He was ruled out of the recent championship victory over Northamptonshire with a foot injury but had been recruited for the second half of the campaign.
However, South Africa are scheduled to play two home Tests against New Zealand beginning on August 19 and August 27 respectively before a one-off One-Day International against Ireland on September 25.
A further five one-day games have been pencilled in against Australia and Rhodes admitted Abbott’s availability for the rest of the campaign was uncertain.
“There have been some tournaments that have come up which when we signed Kyle weren’t there but that’s life and, if he does get picked, he will be playing for South Africa,” he said.
“But those are the gambles that are always taken. Some of the international series crop up all of a sudden and you have to take it on the chin and that could happen with Kyle.
“We’ll just wait and see and hope he can play as much as he can for Worcestershire.”
Meanwhile, Rhodes said the side would use their week without cricket to recharge their batteries but also to work on their skills.
Friday’s NatWest T20 Blast clash against Birmingham Bears was the climax of a concentrated period of cricket in all formats of the game.
The Rapids will take to the field on Friday for their final T20 Blast game away to Derbyshire Falcons after a seven-day break from the relentless county cricket schedule.
That clash is followed by four successive games in the One-Day Cup either side of the two-day tour game with Pakistan.
“We’ve been on the go for a long time now and winning in the three days at Northampton in the Specsavers County Championship was really good as well,” Rhodes said.
“I’ve been doing a lot of work specific for 50 overs cricket and we are in a really good position to challenge in that competition so we certainly won’t stop and we will keep those sessions going.”
Worcestershire currently sit second in Group A of the Royal London One-Day Cup and face a trip to Edgbaston on Sunday to tackle Warwickshire before a home clash with Northamptonshire on Wednesday, July 27.