TWO weeks ago, AB de Villiers looked locked and loaded to succeed Graeme Smith as SA’s Test captain. Today, when the new skipper is unveiled in Johannesburg, the shock will surge far and wide if Hashim Amla does not crack the nod.
What has happened to swing the pendulum from De Villiers – and Faf du Plessis – to Amla may never be known, but the circumstances are compelling.
“I would love to do it,” was De Villiers’ straight answer when he was asked, on May 15, whether he wanted to captain the Test side. For many, that was good enough for him to be given the job on the spot. But, that same day, whispers emerged that Amla had made himself available. With that everything changed.
De Villiers’ appointment would mean either adding dangerously to his already heavy workload or finding a new wicketkeeper, which would be unwise for a team that has enough transition to deal with.
Conversely, making Amla captain would contain the ripple of change. A replacement for Smith at the top of the order would still have to be found, but the structure of the side would not be affected.
The same could be said for elevating Du Plessis to the leadership. However, the man who looks the most comfortable of the three as a captain is probably out of the running.
In the same way that the batting ability of wicketkeepers has become a more important factor in their selection than their skills behind the stumps, so modern captains must be star players who are bulletproof to the prospect of being dropped.
Du Plessis is a long way from the edge of the selectorial axe, but not nearly as far as De Villiers or Amla.
“Until a few days ago I thought AB was the shoe-in,” former SA left-arm spinner Paul Harris said yesterday. “He would still get my vote because of how he has handled captaining the one-day team.
“But I would have no issue at all if it is given to Hashim.”
We know what kind of captain De Villiers or Du Plessis would make thanks to them holding the reins with the one-day and Test teams. However, Amla has carefully kept a large part of his personality from reaching public view, which is his right.
But Amla is a thinking man, as proved by his post on social media on April 27: “Twitter might have been banned in this country if things didn’t change. Have a good Freedom Day fellow SA peeps.”
Which brings us to race. SA have not picked a black African in a Test for three years and almost five months in which they have played 26 games in the format.
In the apparent absence from the equation of a player ready to remedy that sorry situation, the least Cricket SA (CSA) could do is to appoint a captain of colour. Happily, there can be no questioning the credentials of the only candidate of colour: Amla’s race is important, but his immense contribution he has made to SA’s cause means race does not feature in this debate. That is a triumph for transformation.
And if the theory is true that CSA chief executive Haroon Lorgat asked the previously reluctant Amla to consider putting his hand up, then Lorgat should be commended.
Lorgat was among the selectors, remember, who took a leap of faith in a big, brash 22-year-old who had played just eight Tests when they made him captain. As we know now, Graeme Smith turned out all right.
Two-horse race for Test reins
What has happened to swing the pendulum from De Villiers – and Faf du Plessis – to Amla may never be known, but the circumstances are compelling.
“I would love to do it,” was De Villiers’ straight answer when he was asked, on May 15, whether he wanted to captain the Test side. For many, that was good enough for him to be given the job on the spot. But, that same day, whispers emerged that Amla had made himself available. With that everything changed.
De Villiers’ appointment would mean either adding dangerously to his already heavy workload or finding a new wicketkeeper, which would be unwise for a team that has enough transition to deal with.
Conversely, making Amla captain would contain the ripple of change. A replacement for Smith at the top of the order would still have to be found, but the structure of the side would not be affected.
The same could be said for elevating Du Plessis to the leadership. However, the man who looks the most comfortable of the three as a captain is probably out of the running.
In the same way that the batting ability of wicketkeepers has become a more important factor in their selection than their skills behind the stumps, so modern captains must be star players who are bulletproof to the prospect of being dropped.
Du Plessis is a long way from the edge of the selectorial axe, but not nearly as far as De Villiers or Amla.
“Until a few days ago I thought AB was the shoe-in,” former SA left-arm spinner Paul Harris said yesterday. “He would still get my vote because of how he has handled captaining the one-day team.
“But I would have no issue at all if it is given to Hashim.”
We know what kind of captain De Villiers or Du Plessis would make thanks to them holding the reins with the one-day and Test teams. However, Amla has carefully kept a large part of his personality from reaching public view, which is his right.
But Amla is a thinking man, as proved by his post on social media on April 27: “Twitter might have been banned in this country if things didn’t change. Have a good Freedom Day fellow SA peeps.”
Which brings us to race. SA have not picked a black African in a Test for three years and almost five months in which they have played 26 games in the format.
In the apparent absence from the equation of a player ready to remedy that sorry situation, the least Cricket SA (CSA) could do is to appoint a captain of colour. Happily, there can be no questioning the credentials of the only candidate of colour: Amla’s race is important, but his immense contribution he has made to SA’s cause means race does not feature in this debate. That is a triumph for transformation.
And if the theory is true that CSA chief executive Haroon Lorgat asked the previously reluctant Amla to consider putting his hand up, then Lorgat should be commended.
Lorgat was among the selectors, remember, who took a leap of faith in a big, brash 22-year-old who had played just eight Tests when they made him captain. As we know now, Graeme Smith turned out all right.
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