Rhodes not bound for Australia - at this stage

South African one-day specialist Jonty Rhodes has no intention of quitting South Africa to play in Australia - or anywhere else, for that matter - at this stage.

Rhodes has been reported to have told an Adelaide radio station that he would not mind a move to Australia, but on Friday he clarified his position.

"My priority at this stage is next year's World Cup," said Rhodes. "That's what I'm working towards at the moment. I was asked whether I'd like to play in Adelaide and I said yes - but only after I've retired from international cricket. It's not that I've set my heart on Adelaide, but I'm a professional cricketer and there will come a stage when I will probably consider playing elsewhere.

"But I'm not reviewing my options just yet. I'm not practising my Australian accent or packing my bags just at the moment. It might be nice to have a season or two playing cricket somewhere else in the world, but to be honest, I haven't given too much though about it.

"It was just a question I was asked and I gave an answer, but people shouldn't read too much into it," he said.

Rhodes has retired from Test match cricket - something of a sore point among South Africans as the Test matches against Australia lurched from one disaster to another - but remains an integral part of the one-day team.

There has been speculation that he might be asked to captain South Africa during the World Cup, but there would seem to be two compelling arguments against such an appointment.

The first is the fact that Rhodes would not overturn his decision to retire from Test cricket despite appeals from a number of quarters throughout the summer as a result of which his commitment to South African cricket has been questioned in some circles.

The second is that, captain or not, Rhodes does inspire the one-day team when he is part of it. Despite advancing years - he will be 32 this year - there has been no noticeable loss of his athleticism in the field and, if anything, his batting this summer was more assured than at any stage of his career.

What seems more likely to happen is that Rhodes will be asked to play a more active role in the dressing room. He has tended to sit back a little and has been unwilling to interfere in the running of the side. This approach stems in part from his absence from the Test side and he has been reluctant, when he joins the one-day squad, to push his own opinions too forcefully.

But just as question marks have been raised against Shaun Pollock's captaincy this summer, so too has the support he received, or not received, from his senior players been questioned. Rhodes, and Allan Donald if he is chosen, will be playing in a fourth World Cup and Pollock will be encouraged to draw on this experience as much as possible.